High School Basketball: Laguna boys open with win; girls’ squad starts postseason Saturday
It’s CIF Southern Section playoff time for the Laguna Beach boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, and the boys’ squad started postseason play with an impressive victory Wednesday.
The Breakers opened with a Division 4AA first-round game against Los Angeles Salesian and took a 71-57 victory from the visiting Mustangs at Dugger Gym.
The win sends Laguna, the No. 14-seed in the tournament and third-place team from the Orange Coast League, on to a second-round date at 7 p.m. Friday. The Breakers travel to West Hills to take on No. 3-seed Chaminade.
The Laguna girls’ basketball team opens postseason play on Saturday.
In Wednesday’s win over Salesian (9-18), an at-large playoff entry from the Camino Real League, Laguna put four players in double figures in improving to 16-13 overall.
“We have a group of young kids and to get a playoff win, is always a good thing,” Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said. “At this point of the season, this is great experience for this group, to get a feel of what the playoffs are like and what lies ahead.
“I think we came out ready to play, which is something we hadn’t been doing lately. We took a 13-point halftime lead, probably let up some in the third quarter, but we got back together and finished strong. It was a real nice win for us.”
Laguna went from an 18-12 lead after the first quarter to a 33-20 halftime advantage. Salesian chipped into that lead in the third quarter but junior forward Darin Richardson and freshman guard Charlie Rounaghi both hit key three-point shots to protect the lead.
Laguna took a 48-40 lead into the final eight minutes where junior guard Isaac Wulff dropped in another big three-point shot at the outset of the fourth quarter.
Wulff finished with 15 points, Richardson and senior wing Samiar Tehrani both had 12 points, and Rounaghi five points. Freshman wing Blake Burzell led all scorers with 21 points. Junior post Nick Rahder and junior wing Dylan Handel completed the Laguna scoring with four and two points, respectively.
“I thought Samiar Tehrani probably played his best game of the year last week against Calvary Chapel,” Fleming said in reference to Laguna’s 44-43 loss Feb. 12 to Calvary Chapel in its final OCL game.
“I told him that he played well and to take the next step last night (Wednesday), and he did that. They (Salesian) keyed on a few of our guys, and Samiar did a nice job of getting some early inside stuff and scored eight points in the first quarter.”
The challenge that now awaits the Breakers is Chaminade. The Eagles won their 19th game of the season Wednesday by rolling past Compton Centennial, 89-57, in a first-round game Wednesday. They are led by Aidan Dolan, a junior guard known for his three-point shooting, senior point guards Jordan Ogundiran and Michael Oguine, and senior forward Jake Porath.
One of Chaminade’s wins is a 69-25 rout of Salesian in the opening week of the season last December.
“They are top 25 in Southern California, and they are pretty legit,” Fleming said of the Eagles (19-9). “They are big and really athletic and have two guards who are outstanding.
“This is a huge challenge for us. I’m hoping the kids look at this game as an opportunity to compete against a school that is really, really good. I told the kids that if they play the right way, they can play with them (Chaminade). If they do that, then anything is possible.”
The winner of the Laguna-Chaminade game advances to a quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. next Tuesday.
*
The Laguna girls’ basketball team played through a tough start to the season to gain another trip to the CIF-SS playoffs. The Breakers, who tied with Godinez for second place in the Orange Coast League, received a first-round bye.
They start postseason play at 7 p.m. Saturday and will host the winner of Thursday’s first-round game between No. 2-seed Harvard-Westlake, the No. 3 team from the Mission League, and No. 16-seed San Marino, an at-large entry from the Rio Hondo League.
Laguna, 15-11 overall, is the No. 15-seed in the tournament. The Breakers achieved that mark by going 13-4 from winter break through league play, after starting the season 2-7.
“All opponents in CIF are formidable, some obviously more than others,” Laguna Coach Mark Lewis said. “Harvard-Westlake is the No. 2 seed and is a very good team. That will, of course, be quite a challenge. San Marino is seeded No. 16, so they, too, are formidable. Either way, we will have to play well in order to compete.”
Junior forward Alexandra Lewis has led Laguna in scoring throughout the season and enters the postseason at just under 16 points per game. Lewis also is averaging 10 rebounds a game. Junior guard/forward Jackie Cenan, who returned from ACL reconstruction at the beginning of the league season in mid-January, is just under 11 points per game.
Nicole Davidson averages nearly seven points and Mark Lewis said the sophomore has been “a key contributor with her ball handling a point guard play.” Junior forward Sydney DeCarlo averages just over seven points and leads the Breakers in rebounding at just over 11 a game. Sophomore guard/forward Rachel Kenney has been “more aggressive offensively in league,” and has “keyed a couple of our comeback wins with her strong moves to the basket,” Lewis said.
The winner of Saturday’s game moves on to a 7 p.m. quarterfinal game Wednesday.
*
Twitter: @MikeSciacca