Breakers fall at Santiago
GARDEN GROVE — Playing a true road game is tough enough.
The home team has the crowd behind it, and the knowledge of its own gym can lead to the occasional friendly bounce as the ball sits on the rim.
Add a hotly debated couple of points at the end of the third quarter, and all the elements were on the table to send Laguna Beach’s girls’ basketball team down in defeat.
Alondra Serrano had 22 points and nine rebounds to help Garden Grove Santiago past Laguna Beach, 49-42, Wednesday in a pool play game of the 28th Annual Cavalier Classic at Santiago High.
The Breakers (2-10) would have anyone stop short of blaming the end of the third quarter for their downfall, but there was no question that it played a significant role.
A 3-pointer by Nicole Davidson with 30 seconds left in the period had made it 42-37 Santiago. That was the closest that the Breakers had been since it was 19-15 with 4:25 to go in the second.
Laguna Beach came up empty on its next possession, and the ball was inbounded from the near sideline in the backcourt. There were six seconds on the clock, and the Cavaliers (3-4) initially hesitated before throwing a stretch pass ahead to the basket.
Valleria Gutierrez followed with a bounce pass to Serrano, who banked in a layup to beat the buzzer.
More than six seconds had seemed to elapse, and Breakers coach Matthew Tietz was the first to argue. He protested to the referees that the clock operator had failed to start the clock for two seconds after the ball was inbounded.
“It was unfortunate it cost us and the refs didn’t take ownership of it,” Tietz said in an email after the game. “You have to play through it, and I thought our girls did just that.”
Several of the players on the Laguna Beach bench appeared to get emotionally invested in the incident.
In the heat of the moment, the game’s momentum was there to be taken. The Cavaliers seized it, as Aurora Adams found Serrano twice on the low block to extend the lead to 48-37.
“We’ve been playing for three years now,” Serrano said of her chemistry with Adams. “The only time that we didn’t play together was my first year on varsity.
“We already know how we play. We’re used to each other.”
Laguna Beach surrendered just one point in the final six minutes, but it could not forge a rally.
Poor free-throw shooting was a big part of the Breakers’ struggles. They missed 13 of their 17 foul shots.
Santiago held the size advantage on the interior. With their struggles at the free-throw line, the Breakers ended up settling for the outside shot.
Laura Nolan was aggressive in looking for her shot, taking a game-high 22 attempts. Laguna Beach was thin on scorers, especially after Davidson fouled out in the second half.
As one of the team’s taller players, the outside shots by Nolan offered limited second-chance opportunities.
“We don’t get a lot of opportunities to take open shots, so when they are there, I like to take them,” Nolan said. “I do force them sometimes.”
Nolan finished the game with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and five steals.
Davidson had 10 points, six rebounds, and one assist. She is now nine assists shy of the Laguna Beach record in that category, which is held by Jackie Cenan with 264. Cenan graduated last year.
28th Annual Cavalier Classic
Santiago 49, Laguna Beach 42
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Laguna Beach – 9 - 12 - 16 - 5 – 42
Santiago – 14 - 16 - 14 - 5 – 49
LB – Nolan 23, Davidson 10, Kenney 5, Curras 4.
3-pt. goals – Nolan 3, Davidson 2.
Fouled out – Davidson.
Technicals – None.
San – Serrano 22, Perez 8, Mejia 6, Sanchez 5, Adams 4, Flores 2, Montes 2.
3-pt. goals – Perez 2.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
