PREP BASKETBALL : Boys’ Roundup : Naess Leads Laguna Beach Over Buena Park

The Laguna Beach basketball team defeated Buena Park, 71-53, in the first round of the Santiago Tournament Thursday.

Coby Naess scored 25 points and Scott Herdman added 18 to lead the Artists’ attack. Laguna Beach ran out to a 36-28 halftime lead and was not headed from there.

Because it has a Sea View League game with Corona del Mar today, Laguna Beach will be forced to miss the next round of the tournament and will settle for playing for third place on Saturday.

The Artists raised their record to 5-3.

LAGUNA BEACH (71)--Naess 25, Fortune 8, Spath 10, Elfsten 10, Herdman 18.

BUENA PARK (53)--Glahn 4, Riley 2, Kotzin 2, Toscano 14, Smith 12, Robbins 4, Lucas 4, Baldwin 2, Breslin 2, Hunter 5.

In other Santiago Tournament action:

Burbank 52, Garden Grove 48--David Vam scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs to a first-round win over the Argonauts. Greg Lorenz scored 12 points for Garden Grove, which will meet Buena Park in the consolation round.

BURBANK (52)--Dam 16, Clansen 14, Chandler 13, Beckner 4, Velasco 2, Peters 2, Manning 1.

GARDEN GROVE (48)--Kanegae 11, Kiefer 11, Lorenz 12, Contreras 10, Fournier 4.

Kennedy 78, Valencia 57--The Fighting Irish broke open a close game by outscoring the Tigers, 22-9, in the third quarter to run away with this first-round game. Kennedy advances to meet Magnolia in the winner’s bracket; Valencia will face Santiago in consolation play.

KENNEDY (78)--Queen 24, Mares 19, Keith 8, Lauderdale 7, Davidson 6, Curry 6, Howe 4, Hansell 2, Bernard 2.

VALENCIA (57)--Burbank 11, Nakawaki 10, Jones 10, LaRue 8, Hernandez 5, Huygen 5, Herrell 4, Hood 2, Williams 2.

Magnolia 54, Santiago 34--The Sentinels ran off a 19-4 spurt in the third quarter to overpower the Cavaliers in a first-round game. Santiago meets Valencia in consolation play. Magnolia meets Kennedy in the winner’s bracket.

MAGNOLIA (54)--Banuelos 11, Goff 11, Lyons 13, Czech 6, Gorrien 6, Osuna 3, Wittmann 4.

SANTIAGO (34)--Burns 13, Avila 10, Lezama 2, Klungreseter 2, Velasquez 2, Hank 1, Dinh 2, Tecson 2.

In the Pacifica Tournament:

Troy 69, La Salle 45--Center Mark Rudometkin scored 14 points and Rob Burrer and Scott Godwin each had 12 to lead the Warriors to a first-round win. Though it was a first-round game, the Warriors’ victory put them in Saturday’s final. Only five teams are taking part in this tournament. La Salle’s Ethan Caldwell led all scorers with 22 points.

TROY (69)--Forsyth 2, McBenttes 1, Ferren 7, Godwin 12, Rudometkin 14, Shirley 10, Brown 2, Picciotta 9, Burrer 12.

LA SALLE (45)--Higuera 4, Mispagel 2, Calabrese 6, Brack 2, Caldwell 22, Proudfit 3, Schnaider 4, Konrad 2.

Pius X 89, Desert 50--John Finau scored 23 points to lead the Warriors to the first-round victory. Pius X advances to meet Pacifica in the second round.