Laguna edged by Dana Hills

Playing six games in a nine-day period, the Laguna Beach boys’ basketball team went 4-2 to start its 2011-12 season.

In their most recent outing, the Breakers went south Tuesday to face Dana Hills in nonleague play and were edged by the Dolphins, 49-45. Junior guard Jake Dalke scored 12 points and junior guard Cole Kesler added 11 points in the setback.

On Saturday, Laguna claimed the consolation championship at the Godinez Grizzly Invitational by downing North Torrance, 64-47. Brandon Lewis went off for 27 points, hitting six three-point shots in the process. Dalke contributed 13 points and sophomore guard Noah Blanton 10 points.

The Breakers had reached the Gold bracket (top eight teams) of the 24-team tournament. Their only loss was a 54-52 defeat to El Dorado on Dec. 1, a game the Golden Hawks won by hitting the winning shot just before the final buzzer. Dalke’s 16 points topped all scorers and Kesler scored 14.

On Dec. 2, they defeated Brethren Christian, 60-51, to reach the consolation championship game. Dalke hit three three-point shots to finish with 22 points, Lewis canned four shots from behind the arc and had 14 points and Kesler scored 11 points. The Breakers were able to overcome a game-high 27 points by Warriors’ 7-foot-5 center Mamadou Ndiaye.

Lewis was named to the all-tournament team.

“I thought we did a nice job at the tournament, although it would have been nice to reach the final,� Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said. “We played pretty well against Brethren Christian and their big, 7-5 center (Ndiaye), and I thought we also played really well against North Torrance. They (North Torrance) had been kicking the snot out of everyone else. We did a good job in that game of taking care of the ball.�

The Breakers are on the road Friday for a 7 p.m. nonleague game at Irvine. On Monday, they begin play at the Charlie Wilkins Tournament and face El Segundo at 6 p.m. at Westminster High.

“We have some big games coming up,� Fleming said. “I think Irvine is kind of similar to us in the type of stuff they run and in terms of size, and I expect a good game. I think the tournament next week has some solid teams in it, and hopefully it will give us another challenge.�

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Girls’ Basketball

The Breakers began their season Wednesday at home and lost, 74-17, to Fullerton. The Breakers, who suited up just eight players, lost two of those players to foul trouble. Mark Lewis was in his first game as head coach.

Next week, Laguna plays nonleague games against San Juan Hills and Capistrano Valley Christian. The Breakers host San Juan Hills at 6 p.m. Tuesday and travel to face Capo Valley Christian at 7 p.m. Thursday.

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Twitter: @MikeSciacca