Breakers send strong message

One might say that the Laguna Beach High boys’ water polo team made a statement Tuesday. The Breakers sent a message to the rest of CIF Southern Section Division 3: If you want to win the 2011 division title, you’ll have to go through the defending champion.

Top-ranked Laguna fended off its latest challenge from a D-3 rival Tuesday as it took control of second-ranked Damien from start to finish, winning, 10-5, at the Laguna pool.

Five days ago, the Breakers punished fourth-ranked Palos Verdes, 21-9. A week ago, they rallied to force overtime and went on to turn back sixth-ranked La CaĂąada, 14-11.

Laguna has not lost to a Division 3 team this year. Tuesday’s showdown also was a rematch of last year’s division title game won by the Breakers.

“I think our guys have answered the bell every time this year,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “Our guys played a great game today, especially on defense. I thought our defensive effort was outstanding. I think if we played better offense in the first half, we could have put the game away. Still, it was a real nice effort.”

The Breakers (15-4) led all the way against Damien. Senior captain Nolan McConnell slung a sideways shot for the first score less than two minutes into the game. Damien came back to tie the score on an Austin Miller goal with 1:52 left in the first quarter, but the Breakers went on a 2-0 run to close out the quarter.

After Riley Thomas posted his second goal of the match to beat the shot clock with less than two minutes left in the first half, Laguna upped its lead to 7-2, which is where it stood at halftime.

“I was really pleased with the way our guys responded after the score was tied 1-1,” Damato said. “We went on a scoring run after that and I think it’s a great testament to our guys who have been playing at a high level in almost every divisional game we’ve played.”

Erik Henrikson’s strong play in the cage helped Laguna stake its early advantage. The senior had several outstanding saves in the opening half and finished with 14 saves and three steals.

The Spartans were able to pull within, 7-4, midway through the third quarter, but just as they had done at the end of the first quarter, the Breakers scored the final two goals of the quarter to carry a 9-4 lead into the fourth quarter. A goal by Jack Dodson with 3:09 to play put the Breakers on top, 10-4.

McConnell led all scorers with four goals and picked up a pair of assists. Thomas finished with three goals.

The Breakers also had an easy go of it on Oct. 12 when they routed host Godinez, 22-2, in an Orange Coast League game at Santa Ana Valley High. Thomas’ five goals led the way.

Laguna moved to 3-0 in league Wednesday after pummeling host Costa Mesa, 22-4. McConnell had five goals and five assists and Nicky Brunner scored four times as the Breakers took a commanding 17-2 halftime lead.

Laguna is up north Friday and Saturday for the North-South Challenge. The Breakers start tournament play in the 16-team invitational at 11:35 a.m. Friday against co-host Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton. Laguna is the No. 5 seed from the South and Sacred Heart Prep the No. 4 seed from the North.

“We’re really excited to be playing in that tournament,” Damato said. “It’s so great that our program was invited and it’s a real honor to be playing in the tournament. It’ll be a great bonding experience for our guys and get us ready for the playoffs.”

Next week, Laguna completes its league schedule when it hosts Saddleback at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday.

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Cross-Country

Both the boys’ and girls’ teams will run Saturday at the Mt. SAC Invitational in Walnut. The Breakers will run the same course at next month’s CIF Division 4 prelims and finals at Mt. SAC.

Girls’ Coach Steve Lalim said his team will run in the Division 4 sweepstakes race Saturday at Mt. SAC. Six of the top 10 teams in the state will be competing in Walnut, he said.

“I expect us to run well,” he said.

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Girls’ Golf

Four Breakers earned all-league honors Wednesday when the Orange Coast League individual finals tournament concluded at Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club’s Mesa Linda course (par 35).

Gaining first-team accolades were senior Taylor Weiss and sophomore Niko Morck. Weiss shot a two-day total of 169 and finished runner-up for the individual league Most Valuable Player title, which went to Estancia’s Cassie Stevenson, who shot 152.

Morck finished fifth with a 192 score. Laguna seniors Vivian Mendoza (202) and Isabelle Dwight (did not finish) took spots eight and 10 and were second-team all-league.

Laguna also played two regular-season league make-up matches during Monday’s first day of the league tournament at Mesa Linda. The first nine holes were scored for the top five players from Laguna, Costa Mesa and Estancia. The Breakers defeated Costa Mesa, 259-264, with Weiss taking medalist honors with a score of 43. The Breakers were edged by league champion Estancia, 252-259, with Stevenson shooting 36 to take medalist honors.

The Breakers ended league play 5-3 and their season at 5-7.

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Girls’ Tennis

The defending-champion Breakers continued to cruise in Orange Coast League play last week as they recorded 18-0 sweeps against Calvary Chapel on Tuesday and Estancia on Oct. 13.

In a nonleague match Oct. 12 at Capistrano Valley, Laguna was edged by the host Cougars, 10-8. The Breakers won six of nine matches in doubles play, with No. 1 Brooke Michaels and Kira Hamilton getting a sweep (6-1, 6-0, 6-3) and No. 3 Chloe Mansour and Katelyn Bo winning two of three (6-0, 7-6, 0-6).

The Breakers are competing Friday and Saturday at the Dana Hills Coastal Championships. They close out regular-season league play next week with a road match at Costa Mesa on Tuesday and a home match against Saddleback on Thursday.

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Girls’ Volleyball

The Breakers, ranked third in CIF Division 1-A, moved a step closer to repeating as Orange Coast League champion and distanced themselves from second-place Calvary Chapel by scoring a 25-9, 25-15, 25-23 victory at Dugger Gym. Getting 22 kills from Alyse Wallace-Ford, nine digs from Avery Bush and 19 assists from Allison Palmer, the Breakers improved to 7-0 in league and 16-6 overall.

Laguna’s win gave the Breakers a two-game lead in the standings over Calvary (5-2) with three league matches remaining.

Last weekend, Laguna went 4-2 and finished in 20th place at the California Challenge, hosted by Torrey Pines and played at Alliant University in San Diego.

Laguna hosts Godinez in league play at 5:30 p.m. Friday. On Monday, the Breakers host Mira Costa (No. 6, Division 1-AA) at 5:15 p.m. in nonleague action. They’ll wrap up league play with matches Tuesday (5:45 p.m.) at Costa Mesa and Thursday (5:30 p.m.) at home against Saddleback.

The annual Laguna alumni game is Oct. 28 (6:30 p.m.).

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Twitter: @MikeSciacca