Laguna Beach’s Makenzie Fischer takes a penalty shot in the first half of Saturday’s championship match. (Presidio Sports photos)
Makenzie Fischer scored 12 times on the final day of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions to lead Laguna Beach’s girls water polo team to the tournament championship.
The Breakers beat Newport Harbor rather convincingly in the final 9-5 after reaching the title match with a 15-10 victory over San Clemente earlier in the day.
“To come and win this tournament, it means a lot to us. We wanted to show everyone who we really are and how we can play together,” said team captain Cara Borkovec. “There’s a lot we can learn from but I’m really proud of everyone.”
Laguna Beach never gave Newport much of a chance in the final. The Breakers raced to a 6-0 lead by halftime.
“You always have to come out in the first quarter and try not to give the other team any hope, and that’s what we tried to do,” said Fischer, the tournament MVP. “And then they made a run for it and we stopped it.”
Newport Harbor’s Cleo Harrington, an all-tournament selection, waits for a shot by Laguna Beach’s Haley Evans.
Newport Harbor was in the TOC final for the ninth time in the event’s 15-year history, but remarkably a title still evades the Sailors.
Laguna Beach improves to 15-1 on the season.
“It was a really good week for us,” said Breakers head coach Ethan Damato. “We’re really excited to go back home and get back to training.”
Laguna Beach’s Natalie Selin gets to the front of the Newport Harbor cage on Saturday.
In the third place game, Corona del Mar and tournament-surprise San Clemente clashed. San Clemente upset top-ranked Foothill in the first round on Friday and reached the semifinals before falling to Laguna Beach 15-10 earlier in the day.
The Sea Queens held off San Clemente 6-5 for third place after taking a 6-2 lead in the third quarter. Maddie Musselman led CDM with four goals in the match.
Santa Barbara High had the best finish of the three local schools in the 16-team bracket. All four of the Dons’ games were decided by one goal, with Santa Barbara’s 10-9 victory over Agoura coming in the 7th-place game. The Dons, ranked No. 6 in Division 1, beat Montebello 11-10, lost to Newport Harbor 10-9, lost to Mater Dei 9-8, before defeating Agoura.
Sophomore Jessee Ransone scored the game-winning goal in both of Santa Barbara’s victories.
“She chooses her spots,” noted Walsh.
Jessie Brummett led Santa Barbara for the tournament in steals, assists and drawn ejections. Walsh also noted Sienna Goggia’s eight blocks as a key to the win over Agoura.
San Marcos finished in 12th. The Royals fell to top-ranked Foothill 6-5 in the morning and 7-5 to Montebello in the afternoon. Their record at the tournament was 1-3 but the three losses were by a combined five goals as San Marcos actually outscored its opponents 29-28 in its four games.
Find a complete tournament scoreboard HERE
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP – Makenzie Fischer, Laguna Beach
Aria Fischer, Laguna Beach
Cleo Harrington, Newport Harbor
Carlee Kapana, Newport Harbor
Maddie Musselman, Corona del Mar
Brigette Kimbrough, San Clemente
Nikki Doumas, Santa Margarita
Brianna Daboub, Mater Dei
Anna Brummett, Santa Barbara High
BOX SCORES
CHAMPIONSHIP: Laguna Beach 9, Newport Harbor 5
LB 4 2 1 2 – 9
NH 0 0 4 1 – 5LB Scorers – M. Fischer 5, Evans 1, A. Fischer 1, Salvini 1, Julson 1
NH Scorers – O’Beck 1, Whitelegge 1, Goodell 1, Pipkin 1, Reid 1SEMIFINAL 1: Laguna Beach 15, San Clemente 10
LB 6 3 7 2 – 15
SC 3 1 3 3 – 10LB Scorers – M. Fischer 7, A. Fischer 3, Borkovec 2, Selin 1, Julson 1, Salvini 1.
SC Scorers – Smithson 3, McCutcheon 3, Kimbrough 1, Brownell 1,Smith 1SEMIFINAL 2: Newport Harbor 7, Corona del Mar 3
NH 2 3 1 1 – 7
CDM 1 1 1 0 – 3NH Scorers – O’Beck 3, Fulto 3, Whitelegge 1
CDM Scorers – Quinn 2, Morgan 1
