Clarke talks about ‘practice’
Ted Clarke said he wanted his Laguna Beach High football team to approach its first summertime competition as though it were a practice session.
Saturday, amid stormy conditions that included heavy downpours, the Breakers did just that at the Duarte 7 on 7 Passing Tournament.
The Breakers won their first two games of the tournament and finished 2-3 overall.
The event gave Clarke, Laguna’s first-year head coach, his first look at part of his offense in action.
The Breakers, who got off to a late start in summer ball, had five days to prepare for the tournament.
It did serve as the much-needed practice time the Breakers were seeking.
“The improvement this team has shown us from Day 1 of the first week of summer camp, to [Tuesday’s] practice, has been absolutely incredible,” Clarke said. “We’re very happy with the progress this team has made in such a short time. We’re not where we want to be, but this team is working hard to get there.”
Laguna opened the tournament with a victory over Hacienda Heights Wilson, and followed with a win over Eagle Rock, both in pool-play action. The Breakers completed pool play with consecutive losses to South Torrance and Yucaipa.
In the afternoon session, the Breakers lost to Baldwin Park in the quarterfinal round of the championship bracket.
Yucaipa defeated Baldwin Park in the tournament’s championship game.
“We told the kids going in to the tournament to look at it as a practice,” Clarke explained. “We did that, too. Our kids had not had enough on-field time as most of the other teams had, and we struggled in the afternoon session. The competitiveness was there from the kids, and they played hard every down. We received some compliments from other teams on how hard we played.
“We faced some good teams. South Torrance had it going on with a pretty good offense, and Yucaipa had a young quarterback and had it going on, too.”
Jack Simon, Laguna’s returning quarterback and a senior next school year, took the majority of snaps on offense Saturday. Curtis Harrison, a sophomore-to-be, also saw time at quarterback and also played receiver and cornerback.
Matt Hayes, a junior in the fall, played slot and linebacker and had a big day.
“Jack looked really good, Curtis played several positions and had a great day, and Matt had a good, strong day for us and had [an interception] in our opening game,” Clarke said.
“This is Jack’s team. He’s got the reigns fully. I was impressed with things he did Saturday. He whipped the ball and put some throws through some very tight windows.”
The passing tournament completed the first week of summer practice for the Breakers who return to competition Friday when they compete at the Los Altos 7 on 7 Passing Tournament in Hacienda Heights. Clarke said Laguna is one of 16 teams competing in the tournament.
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Boys’ Basketball
The Breakers concluded their summer league and tournament season Monday with consecutive games at the Godinez Summer League at Godinez High. They defeated both Garden Grove Santiago and Segerstrom (scores weren’t available).
“By playing back-to-back games, we were able to use two groups of players so everybody got a lot of playing time,” Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said. “I thought everybody played pretty well, too.”
The Breakers played 23 games during its summer season, winning 18 of those games including their final three.
They finished their summer session this week with final practice sessions.
“I thought it was a good summer,” Fleming said. “We played a wide range of teams, some who were really good to some who weren’t so strong. We showed some improvement throughout the summer, and definitely were improved over last summer. That’s a good sign going into next year.
“I don’t think we had our starting lineup one time in 23 games. With that, it created an opportunity for kids to step in and take on roles. I thought they did well and came through, and I think that next year we definitely will have some depth.”
Fleming said the Laguna Beach boys’ basketball program will run an alumni tournament Aug. 1 at Dugger Gym. For more information, contact Fleming at the school.
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Baseball
The Breakers had their summer game against Woodbridge canceled Monday due to rain.
In a previous game July 15 at Ocean View, sophomore Jeff Bruyntjens scored twice and didn’t allow an earned run in one inning pitched.
Laguna completes its summer schedule Wednesday with a home game against Century.
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Girls’ Volleyball
Summer camp sessions under the direction of Laguna Beach Coach Raul Papaleo are underway.
The second Girls’ Beach Volleyball Camp for incoming freshmen students starts Monday at Main Beach in Laguna Beach. The camp runs through July 31.
Indoor volleyball camps for incoming freshmen also start Monday and run through Aug. 14 at Dugger Gym on the Laguna campus.
The Laguna girls’ volleyball team will compete in the preseason Foothill Queens of the Court Tournament Aug. 22.
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Cross-Country
The Laguna girls’ cross-country program is in its second week of summer training. The Breakers will go to camp in Mammoth Aug. 15-20, and start the 2015 season Sept. 5 at the Gaucho Invitational at UC Santa Barbara.
The Laguna boys’ cross-country team opened its summer camp July 13 which runs through Aug. 28. The Breakers go on a summer retreat to Big Bear Aug. 16.
For registration information for the girls’ and boys’ cross-country summer camps, visit www.lagunabeachcity.net.