Eagles barely miss defending title

COSTA MESA — Cupcakes with sprinkles were the snack of choice Tuesday for the Laguna Beach High girls’ golf team.

Not exactly a cupcake match for the Breakers, who had to beat Estancia at its home venue, the Costa Mesa Country Club’s Mesa Linda course.

That only made it an even sweeter victory for Laguna Beach, which edged the Eagles, 221-223, in a battle for Golden West League supremacy.

With one league match left to go, the loss means Estancia (11-2, 7-2 in league) will not defend its league title of a year ago, while Laguna Beach (9-1, 8-0) maintained its perfect league record.

“Good job,” Estancia Coach Art Perry said to his girls after watching them shoot their lowest score of the year. “You came to play today. We only lost by two strokes.”

But the loss was tough to take for a senior like Estancia’s Taylor West, whose seven-over par score of 42 was second on the team. Eagles freshman Ashley Peters led the team with a six-over par 41.

Also scoring were junior Jackie Crosson (45) and sophomores Tess Hill (45) and Kim Haycraft (50).

Laguna Beach junior Karina Shaw was medalist with a 39, while teammate Lexy Altman shot a 41. Also scoring for the winning Breakers were Grace Stewart (46), Caitlin Barretto (47) and Shannon Sweeney (48).

The Breakers also beat Estancia the first time through league, 248-258, on Sept. 26 at San Clemente. But that was without West, who was out for a couple of weeks after suffering a collarbone injury.

“It’s kind of upsetting that we lost,” said West, who also excels in softball for Estancia. “I’ve won league since my freshman year.”

West saw the Eagles go 15-0 a year ago with their team of five seniors. But this year, she’s the only senior on a team of mostly sophomores.

“Last year, we all hung out a lot,” West said. “We don’t really all hang out a lot together this year because the girls are still really young. Our top three left, so it was hard getting everything organized and back together. We tried our best. It was a pretty good season.”

Peters, however, continued to show that the future of the program remains bright. Tuesday, she had an eagle and two birdies.

Peters said she drove past the 200-yard marker on the par-five No. 5, then hit her three-wood to about 10 feet away. She then sunk the putt for the eagle.

“We played the best we could today,” she said.

But Laguna Beach has a more experienced team this year, similar to the Eagles last year. Everyone who scored Tuesday was either a junior or a senior.

“It was very important for us [to win],” Breakers Coach Valorie Quigley said. “[Estancia] beat us twice last year, so I know the girls really wanted to rise up to the challenge. They really focused, they relaxed. They listened to me for a change and followed up on their putts.”

The Eagles will play host to Orange on Thursday, then get ready for league finals next Monday and Tuesday.

“I knew it’d be a close match,” Perry said. “We played well, it’s just that [Laguna Beach] played a little bit better. It’s been a good year. We’re just the up-and-coming team now. We’re going to work real hard this summer to be No. 1 next year.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at [email protected].