Breakers head into break at .700

It was the start to the new week, but Bret Fleming didn’t see much crispness in his boys’ basketball team Monday.

The Breakers’ head coach said his team did just enough to win on the road against Sage Hill, which they did in a 55-48 nonleague game.

Laguna led throughout the first half, but Sage Hill came back to briefly take the lead in the third quarter.

The Breakers outscored the Lightning, 18-10, in the fourth quarter to get the win and improve to 7-3 heading into the winter break.

“It’s nice to get the win, but I was kind of disappointed in our overall performance,” Fleming said.

“We weren’t real sharp, real crisp. But it’s a win.”

Laguna’s Kevin Buck topped all scorers with 19 points and teammate Marcus Hairston scored 16.

Rounding out the Breakers’ scoring was Ryan Lawler with eight points, Dylan Roley had six points, Charley Bowman three and Kenny Sullivan two points.

The win came just two days after Laguna had wrapped up play at the Garden Grove Tournament which began Dec. 10.

The Breakers, who won the tournament last year, came away this time with the third-place trophy after defeating host Garden Grove, 67-48 Saturday.

Lawler had what Fleming called a “break-out” game with 24 points against the Argonauts.

Sullivan also had a terrific game with nine points and 14 rebounds. That performance came on the heels of a 15-point, 14-rebound game against Pacifica in the semifinal round.

“Kenny had two back-to-back outstanding games,” Fleming said.

Roley finished with nine points, Hairston with eight and Bowman with seven.

“We came back and played real well after the Pacifica game,” Fleming said. “Garden Grove was 7-2 coming into the game and was a worthy opponent. We played pretty solidly throughout.”

Laguna’s bid to reach the tournament title game for a second-straight year was denied by Pacifica, which pulled out a 44-42 win in the semifinals.

The Mariners scored late to take a two-point lead and following a Laguna timeout, Fleming said he wanted Hairston to push the ball up court and get “to the rim,” but after he reached mid-court, the buzzer sounded and the Breakers couldn’t get off one final shot.

Laguna was down by six points early in the first half and again at the half, but came back to hold the lead throughout most of the second half.

Buck, a senior guard, was named to the all-tournament team.

“He was very much deserving of it,” Fleming said.

The Breakers will spend the holidays in Oahu, Hawaii, where they will competed in the Namenehune Tournament.

They will play four games between Dec. 26-29.

The team arrives in Hawaii on Christmas Day and returns home on New Year’s Day.

“It’s a lot of work putting a trip like this together, which is the downside, but we’re really looking forward to it,” Fleming said.

“We have a really good group of kids to travel with and it should be a lot of fun.”