Breakers find offense in key victory

What a difference two weeks makes. When the Laguna Beach boys’ basketball team opened Orange Coast League play on Jan. 11 at Calvary Chapel, a low-scoring, defensive battle was eventually won by the Breakers.

Wednesday night at Dugger Gym, the Breakers made it two straight wins over the Eagles, using strong play in the second and third quarters to post a 64-46 victory. In the first meeting between the schools this season, the Breakers squeaked past the Eagles, 32-31, which was more indicative of just how close the two programs have been recently.

Prior to Wednesday’s 18-point victory, Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said that each of the last five meetings had been decided by a point or two.

“I thought we played really well,” said Fleming, whose Breakers improved to 4-0 in league and 16-5 overall. “When we played the first time, both teams like to play with a lot of defensive intensity and there wasn’t a lot of scoring. This time, I think the difference was that we were able to get into transition, push the ball up court and get into some early scoring situations.

“The second and third quarters were the difference in the game.”

Laguna went from a 15-14 first-quarter lead into a 27-19 halftime advantage after outscoring Calvary Chapel, 12-5, in the second quarter.

The lead ballooned to 49-29 after the Breakers outscored the Eagles, 22-10, in the third quarter.

Kenny Sullivan led Laguna in scoring with 15 points. Kevin Buck scored 12, and Charley Bowman had 10 points.

Prior to defeating Calvary Chapel on Wednesday, Laguna took care of Estancia on the road, winning, 68-39, on Jan. 18. It was no contest by halftime as the Breakers bolted to a 36-11 advantage.

Marcus Hairston topped all scorers with 16 points. Ryan Lawler and Dylan Roley each scored 13.

In between picking up those two league wins, Laguna took on Cypress on Saturday at the MLK Tournament at Century High in Santa Ana and suffered a 50-47 loss. Roley scored 11 points, and King added 10 for the Breakers.

“It was one of those games where Cypress came out and played really hard, and we didn’t,” Fleming said. “We got down by 16 points but came back to pull to within six but couldn’t pull it out.

“We blew them out last year in a game where their coach got kicked out. They have a lot of players back from that team, and I think they remembered that game real well.”

Laguna travels to Costa Mesa today for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off with the Mustangs. In their first meeting Jan. 16, Laguna recorded a 64-48 victory.

On Wednesday, the Breakers host Estancia to close out the second round of league play.