Basketball Roundup: Breakers got game

Laguna Beach High girls’ basketball coach Mark Lewis said if his team played the way it performed Wednesday at the Hawk Holiday Classic in Huntington Beach throughout the rest of the season, he’d be a happy camper.

The Breakers had little trouble handling Santa Ana Valley in their second tournament Premier Flight Division pool-play game at Ocean View High. They broke away from a 4-2 lead early and rolled from there, eventually running away with a 60-14 victory.

The win was the second in the tournament and fourth straight for Laguna, which improved to 4-3.

“I’m happy with the win,” Lewis said. “What I liked most about it, was that any time you hold a team to 14 points, you’re doing a great job. We played good defense, Man 1 through Man 11.

“It was a complete-team victory and everyone contributed. We had some much balance today. If we continue to play like this from here on out, I’ll be really happy.”

Laguna zoomed from a 4-2 lead and turned it into a 19-2 advantage. The Breakers led 21-4, through the first eight minutes. Two free throws by sophomore guard Jackie Cenan started an 8-0 Laguna run to open the second quarter, a run that ended on a driving layup by senior guard Kendra Overstreet that took the score to 29-4.

Sophomore guard Alexandra Lewis hit a three-point shot midway through the quarter for the final points of the half for the Breakers, who took a 38-8 into the break.

Late in the third quarter, nice feeds down the lane by Cenan and Overstreet led to layups by sophomore forward Francesca Cecutti on consecutive trips down the floor for the Breakers, whose lead grew to 40 points (52-12).

Laguna’s offensive balance included five players in double figures. Cenan and Cecutti both scored 13 points, senior center Jane Wallin had 12 points, and both Overstreet and Lewis scored 10 points.

In its Hawk Holiday Classic opener Monday, Laguna cruised past Dominguez, 58-28. Cenan led all scorers with 30 points and Alexandra Lewis had 16 points.

The win came two days after wrapping play at the Oxford Academy Tournament. The Breakers concluded tourney play with a 62-30 win against Loara. Wallin posted 25 points, Lewis had 16 points and Cenan, who was named to the all-tournament team, had 14 points.

“While we didn’t start the tourney on the right foot, we ended 2-2 in the tourney coming off of two straight victories heading into the Ocean View tournament with some momentum,” Mark Lewis said.

Laguna is lumped in Pool A of the tournament’s Premier Flight Division with host Ocean View, Dominguez, Oxford Academy and Santa Ana Valley.

The Breakers play their next tournament game at 3 p.m. Friday against host Ocean View. The tournament concludes Saturday starting with pool-play games at 9 a.m. The first-place pool division championship games are at 4:30 p.m. (Premier Flight championship), 6 p.m. (Ultimate Flight championship), and 7:30 p.m. (Supreme Flight championship), at Ocean View.

Laguna will play its home opener Wednesday against Anaheim at 6 p.m.

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Boys’ Basketball

The Breakers went to Dana Hills Wednesday for a nonleague game, and dropped a 50-42 decision to the Dolphins (5-1). Senior guard Alec Wulff led the Breakers (4-2) in scoring with 19 points and senior guard Noah Blanton scored 13 points.

Laguna started its season Dec. 2 at the Godinez Tournament. The Breakers won their first three games to reach the tournament title game Saturday. They lost the Gold Division first-place game, 46-39, to Aliso Niguel.

Wulff scored 13 points for the Breakers who led, 24-18, at the half.

The Breakers scored what Fleming said was a “very good” win Dec. 5, 59-53, over Capistrano Valley in a Gold Division quarterfinal game. Wulff netted a game-high 27 points, senior forward Josh Adams scored 19 points, and Blanton had 10 points.

Laguna reached the title game by knocking off Orange Coast League foe Costa Mesa, 67-51, in the championship semifinals Dec. 6. Blanton led three Breakers in double figures with 24 points. Adams had 17 points and Wulff 12 points.

Wulff and Blanton both were named to the all-tournament team.

“We had a good tournament, until the last game when we weren’t ready to compete,” Fleming said. “I thought we got out-worked and out-hustled against Aliso.”

The Breakers travel Friday for a 7 p.m. nonleague game at Irvine.

On Monday, they begin play at the Irvine World News Tournament. They open at 7 p.m. at Beckman. They also play tournament games at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Northwood, and at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 20 against San Clemente at Beckman High.

The tournament runs daily through Dec. 21.