Breakers basketball set to tip off

Mike Sciacca

The 2004-05 boys’ and girls’ prep basketball season is in full swing,

as the Laguna Beach programs are completing their second full week of

practice in preparation to the start of nonleague and tournament

play, which gets underway Monday.

Below is a capsule look at Laguna’s girls’ and boys’ varsity

basketball teams:

Girls’ Basketball 2004-05

Head coach: Stacy Howard

Year at school: 4th

League: Pacific Coast

2003-04 record: 11-12 overall

League standing: 5-5; third

2004 CIF results: Lost first-round Division IVAA to Palos Verdes,

54-52. It was the school’s first CIF playoff game in 16 years.

Returning starters: Claire Bevacqua, 5-10, forward, 17.8 ppg., 8.7

rebs. In six games, Jr.; Brittany Clark, 5-7, guard, 9.3 ppg., 4.3

steals per game, second-team all-PCL; program’s current record holder

in assists after only one season, Soph.

Other returners: Andrea “Vinnie” Ventura, 5-8, forward, Sr.; Haley

Eaves, 5-8, forward/guard, Jr.; Chelsea Hairston, 5-6, guard, Jr.

Newcomers: Tess Grogan, 5-6, guard, Fr., Emily LaRose, 5-6, guard,

Fr., Lisa Avila, 5-10, forward, Jr.; Lauren Kelly, 5-9, forward, Fr.;

Lauren Delgado, 5-7, guard, Jr.

Team Strengths: “Fresh faces with tons of energy,” Howard said.

“This team’s expectations of themselves will drive them this year.

The returners got a real taste of success last year with a trip to

CIF and they won’t settle for anything less than a return trip this

year.

“With five returners we’ve got kids that know the system and push

everyone else, knowing what it takes to compete in the Pacific Coast

League. For the first time in a long time we have a lot of pure

athleticism on this year’s squad. Harnessing the young energy we’ve

go will be the trick, but the fire is there.”

Coach’s expectations: “I expect hard work, hard work and more hard

work. They are young and they are tough. I expect them to learn a lot

early in the year and see it pay off for us in league play. It will

take a commitment from this group to not be satisfied with what we

accomplished last year. They can’t settle, they can’t expect anything

to be given to them. They will have to work harder this year than in

any year past to accomplish what they want.

“We aren’t the doormats of the league anymore. Teams prepare for

us and don’t take us lightly. It’s a new era of girls basketball at

Laguna Beach High and with the success we had last year comes the

expectation of our school and our town to keep producing at that

level. In order to keep growing, to keep making strides with this

team, the girls will have to raise the bar again this year in terms

of effort, commitment to each other and commitment to doing whatever

it takes, night in and night out to better what we did last year and

get the program’s first-ever CIF playoff win.”

League race: “I think it will be one of the toughest years in

recent memory. University will be tough, as always. I think that

Calvary Chapel will look a lot better this year and Tesoro and

Northwood are always athletic and tough. I think that we’ll compete

for a top spot. I won’t put any predictions out there, but we see

ourselves competing in the top three again this year.”

Parting Thoughts: “We have a chance this year to win the program’s

first-ever CIF playoff game. That would be huge and would be the next

step for us in this program. Despite having five returners, we are

still a young team this year. We only have one senior and three

freshmen joining us this year. We spent a ton of time together this

summer and played a ton of games. What we saw in terms of unity with

this group was exciting and I really see it all coming together for

us here.

“We have a group of kids who are excited to be here, have been

waiting to be in a Laguna uniform and play their guts out every

night. We will be fun to watch, we’ll be athletic and we’ll be quick.

Bevacqua, Clark, Emily LaRose and Tess Grogan are a set of speedsters

that can really create some excitement on the floor for us.”

First game: Century Tournament, Dec. 1 to 4

Boys’ Basketball 2004-05

Head coach: Mark Hill

Year at school: 2nd

League: Pacific Coast

2004-05 record: 14-15 overall

League standing: 5-5, tied for third

2004 CIF results: Reached second round of Division IVAA playoffs.

First playoff appearance in four years.

Returning staters: Ivan Kovacevic, 6-5, forward/center, All-PCL,

All-CIF, 20.5 ppg., 10.5 reb., Sr.; Mike Kote, 5’10, guard, 3.6

assts., Sr.; Jeff Clark, 6-1, 6 ppg, Jr.

Returning lettermen: Brian Bergen, 5-10, guard, Sr.

Newcomers: Nikola Nikolic, 6-4, forward, Jr.; Brian Delino, 6-2,

forward, Soph.; Max Jaffe, 5-11, point guard, Sr.

Team strengths: “This season, obviously are we have one of the

county’s best players in Ivan Kovacevic to build around,” Hill said.

“Secondly, we have two other returning starters. We have tremendous

leadership and a great work ethic which will help build on the

momentum we gained from turning the corner last season.”

Coach’s expectations: “I do expect some struggles at times because

this is still a very young and inexperienced team overall; however, I

do expect to improve on last season’s results. It’s a group that

works extremely hard, are very coachable and have great team

chemistry.”

First game: Taco Tournament, Loara High, Nov. 30 to Dec. 4