Laguna Beach girls’ water polo routs Point Loma to reach CIF regional semifinals

The loudest applause of the game came from the bench of the San Diego Point Loma girls’ water polo team in the fourth quarter.

The Pointers finally got on the scoreboard when junior Veronika Divis scored a lob goal with 4:55 remaining in the game. By then, Laguna Beach had scored the first 19 goals of the contest.

“They press super-hard, they counter really hard,” Point Loma coach Ken Toma said. “It’s just another tier of water polo that we’re not ready for. The way we tried to look at it was that we’re playing some of the top girls in the country, one of the top teams in the country.”

The top-seeded Breakers had no trouble with No. 8 Point Loma in the first round of the inaugural CIF Southern California Regional Division II playoffs, earning a 20-1 victory at Corona del Mar High to advance to the semifinals.

Laguna Beach (24-3) will play No. 5 Orange Lutheran in a Regional Division II semifinal Saturday at 9 a.m. The Lancers (17-13) defeated No. 4 Oceanside El Camino 17-1 in another first-round game. The Division II title match is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at CdM.

Freshman Rachael Carver had three goals, leading 11 different scorers for the Breakers, who led 14-0 at halftime against CIF San Diego Section Division III champion Point Loma (19-9). Seniors Sophia Lucas, Evan Tingler and Isabel Riches, as well as sophomore Morgan Van Alphen and freshman Nicole Struss, all scored twice.

Senior goalkeeper Thea Walsh made three saves in the first quarter, while junior Quinn Winter made seven saves in the final three quarters for Laguna Beach.

An upset loss to eventual CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion Santa Barbara San Marcos in the Division 1 quarterfinals not only ended the Breakers’ dream of repeating as champion. It also dropped Laguna Beach into Division II, not Division I, for the regional tournament. But the Breakers intend to make the best of the situation.

“We were super-bummed, but we kind of all decided that we weren’t going to let that loss set us back,” said Laguna senior Alana Evans, who had a team-best five assists and four steals in Friday’s game. “We’ve been talking about how a team’s character is defined by resilience. We decided that we were going to come out hard and keep playing the way we’ve been playing all season, even though we’re in the lower bracket.”

The Breakers also want to have fun at the regional tournament. Coach Ethan Damato subbed out all six of his starters midway through the first quarter against Point Loma, putting in seniors Kyla Whitelock and Danielle Borelli, freshmen Molly Renner and Carver, sophomore Grace Houlahan and Van Alphen.

Laguna Beach ended the quarter up 6-0. They already had nine steals, finishing with 21 for the game. Lucas led everyone with five steals.

“There’s been a lot of girls that have been a part of our success this year, and they don’t always get to do it in the games,” Damato said. “We felt like this game was a lot about getting those girls some minutes, letting them have some fun out there.”

The meeting with Orange Lutheran will be the teams’ second of the season. Laguna Beach won the first game, 10-5 on Dec. 16 as part of the Santa Margarita showcase.

“They’ve obviously improved a lot, so we know that will be a good battle [Saturday],” Damato said. “We’re going to enjoy our time together, and we’re going to play like the way we feel like Laguna Beach water polo plays. We’re focused on doing things the right way, playing for the girl next to you.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo