Cenan the MVP

Jackie Cenan and Alexandra Lewis have been key players in the resurgence of the Laguna Beach High girls’ basketball program over the past four years.

In their final year with the program, the 2015-16 season, the pair helped lead the Breakers to a share of the 2016 Orange Coast League championship and a CIF Southern Section playoff berth. For their accomplishments, the two have been named to the 2016 Orange Coast League Girls’ Basketball Team, and also have been selected to play for the South in next month’s Orange County Prep All-Star Game.

In the upcoming All-Star game, Cenan and Lewis will play one final time for Mark Lewis — their head coach at Laguna and the father of “Alex,” who has been selected head coach for the South.

Cenan heads the all-league squad as its MVP. Lewis was named first team and Laguna junior guard/forward Rachel Kenney and sophomore guard Jasmine Banks made the second team.

By winning a piece of the league championship, the Breakers became the first Laguna team in 11 years and only the second team in the 43-year history of the program to win a league title. The Breakers won 20 games (20-8 record) for the first time in program history which included an eight-game winning streak they took into the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4AA playoffs (where they lost to eventual division champion Santa Fe Springs St. Paul).

In the four years since Cenan and Lewis joined the varsity, Laguna has made the CIF-SS playoffs each year and has advanced to the second round in each of the last three seasons.

“I can’t say enough about Alex and Jackie,” Mark Lewis said. “They have both had amazing high school careers. They were such a complement to each other. Jackie’s ability to drive, score at the rim, and draw fouls, combined with Alex’s ability to knock down the three ball and rebound and play defense, made them a lethal combination.

“They truly have been the cornerstones of the program and I would say will go down in the annals of Laguna Beach girls’ basketball as the two best girls basketball players to have graced the hardwood at Laguna Beach High School.”

Cenan and Lewis have both been starters and impact players all four years on varsity and “at some point, have played all positions,” Mark Lewis said. Cenan played a lot at point guard while Lewis played more small forward on offense and was the anchor in the middle on Laguna’s defensive end.

The two also achieved “notable individual accomplishments,” Mark Lewis said.

Cenan, who recuperated and bounced back from last year’s ACL injury that put her out of action, became the program’s career scoring leader (1,661 points) with a career average of 18.5 points (program record), and had a career average 7.7 rebounds, four steals and nearly three assists per game. She finished the 2015-16 regular season as the second-leading scorer in Orange County.

Lewis also made her mark. This season, she drained an incredible 100 three-point shots which topped the county. In each of her varsity seasons, she improved upon her previous season’s three-point shots made. She ends her career as the most prolific three-point shooter in Laguna basketball history. The records include most three-point shots made in a game (10), season (100), and career (261). She even surpassed her older brother Brandon’s record for three-pointers made in a Laguna boys’ basketball single-season single (85, set 2011/12 season). She was the 11th-leading scorer in the county.

Lewis concluded her Laguna career as the third-leading scorer in program history (1,205 points, 11.5 avg.) and is one of only three players in Laguna girls’ basketball history to score more than 1,000 points (Cenan, Emily Writer is second with 1,464 points). For her career, Lewis also tallied 860 career rebounds (program record) and had a career average 8.2 rebounds, three steals, and nearly two steals and two blocks per game.

The Laguna girls’ basketball team was honored for its league championship season at the March 8 Laguna Beach Unified School District board meeting.

“It was a proud moment for me and for the girls,” Mark Lewis said. “Quite an honor to be recognized by the school board.

“The girls have had a consistent goal each year and that is, to ‘put another number on the banner,’ which means to win league and be able to see that displayed on the banner in the gym for girls’ basketball league titles. Each year, the team battles hard but has come up short against Estancia each time. This year, the girls lost a close, hard fought battle to Estancia at home but with perfect execution of a well-designed game plan, they avenged the loss by overwhelming Estancia in their gym to draw even with them atop the league. Two nights later in their final regular season game on Senior Night.”

The Orange County Prep Basketball All-Star Games are April 23 at Cypress College. The girls’ game tips off at 5 p.m. and is followed by the boys’ game.

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2016 Orange Coast League Girls’ Basketball Team

MVP: Jackie Cenan, Laguna Beach, Sr.

First Team

Laguna Beach: Alexandra Lewis, Sr.; Estancia: Maya Van Den Heever, Sr., Finley Garnett, Soph.; Godinez: Nancy Enriquez, Soph.; Calvary Chapel: Sara Cadenas, Sr.; Saddleback: Damaris Salazar, Sr.; Costa Mesa: Katie Lawrence, Sr.

Second Team

Laguna Beach: Rachel Kenney, Jr., Jasmine Banks, Soph.; Estancia: Madison Letterman, Sr., Nefertiti Van Den Heever, Sr.; Godinez: Julissa Prieto, Soph.; Calvary Chapel: Cami Guild, Jr.; Costa Mesa: Katie Belmontes, Fr.