Laguna girls’ water polo reach title game

The Laguna Beach High water polo program completed its summer season last weekend on a high note as both the girls’ and boys’ varsity teams turned in strong performances in tournament play.

The Breakers competed at the 2013 High School State Championships Invitational, which included top high school teams from San Diego County to northern California, and played their games at Corona del Mar High. The girls’ tournament featured 32 teams and the boys’ tournament had 48.

Laguna’s girls complied a 5-1 record and finished runner-up to the title. The Breakers beat Capistrano Valley, 20-3, Coronado, 16-6, Clovis West, 13-4, Murietta Valley, 14-5, and Newport Harbor, 9-7, the latter in the semifinals. They lost, 7-5, in the championship game Sunday to Foothill.

Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said the Breakers’ lineup for each game included only one senior, goalie Jenna Knott. Starters in the lineup included sophomores Haley Evans, Natalie Selin and Ally Jochim, juniors Brighid Burnes, Taylor Julson and Daniela Lucidi, and incoming freshmen Aria Fischer and Bella Baldridge. Damato said sophomore goalie Holly Parker played in the second half of each game.

The Breakers played the tournament without the team’s 2012 MVP, Makenzie Fischer who was playing at the U.S. Women’s Open tournament, Damato said.

Laguna’s second-place finish was the second-best tournament finish for a Breakers’ team, he said. The 2008 team won the title in the first year of the tournament.

The Laguna boys finished 10th in its tournament. The Breakers posted wins against Lafayette Acalanes, 14-4, Santa Barbara, 11-6, Villa Park, 10-6, and San Jose Bellarmine Prep, 8-7. They lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion North Hollywood Harvard Westlake and CIF Southern Section Division 1 power Long Beach Wilson.

Similar to the Laguna girls’ team, the Breakers played only two seniors, Trevor Collins and Rian Atherton. Juniors Jack Dodson, Aki Andersen, Cade Baldridge, Nolan Del Toro, goalie Garret Hartley, Greyson Benson, Trent Sadler, Connor Hauer and sophomore Jakob Colladay led the way, Damato said.

The 10th-place showing by Laguna is second only to the 2011 team’s ninth-place finish at the tournament.

“It was a great summer showing for both our boys’ and girl’s programs,” said Damato who noted that the tournament showing was the best for both teams since the tournament began in 2008. “We have two very young teams that had a very successful summer.

“This success makes me extremely excited for the coming year for the both the fall and winter seasons.”

The Laguna girls’ team begins its 2013 season Sept. 13 hosting Villa Park.

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Football

The Breakers competed against five schools at the 19th annual Claremont Varsity Passing Tournament Saturday at Claremont High. Coach Corey Brown called the event a “success for our team.”

Laguna faced Elsinore, La Canada St. Francis, Culver City, Pacific Palisades Palisades and West Covina South Hills in the 7-on-7 competition.

“Each team brought a unique challenge to our team and it was good to see our team step up and respond both on offense and defense,” Brown said. “We were able to get a better look than we do everyday practicing against each other and that’s why we set up these passing dates.”

The Breakers have one final passing test next week against Dana Hills.

“I expect it to be very competitive,” Brown said. “It will be a great measuring stick to see our growth as a team both offensively and defensively.”

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Baseball

The Breakers picked up an 8-3 win Wednesday at Segerstrom. Steven Harrison had two runs batted in for Laguna, which travels Monday to Tustin for a 4 p.m. game.

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Girls’ Basketball

The Breakers won two of five games last weekend at the San Diego Classic. Their wins were against La Habra, 27-23, and Whittier Christian, 38-33. Their losses were to Seton Catholic of Arizona, 40-30, South Torrance and El Modena, 49-31.

Laguna completes summer league play Tuesday.

“We played a lot of games this summer. Some good, some not so good,” Laguna Coach Mark Lewis said. “We welcomed three new freshmen who worked in well with our returners.

“We look forward to a great season once we get everyone back together, practice and improve our conditioning.”

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Boys’ Basketball

The Breakers went 2-1 in pool play last week at the Amateur Athletic Union Double Pump Best of the Summer tournament, then lost a bracket game in its final game of the summer season.

“I thought the tourney was a great experience for our guys,” Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said. “We got a chance to play some talented players from all over. It was a good indication of how good we are and also how much we still need to improve.”

Laguna will hold its annual alumni tournament Aug. 3. Games will be played between 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at Dugger Gym. The community is invited to attend all games, Fleming said.