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A graduation class for the ages left Laguna Beach’s girls water polo team in the position to learn on the job this postseason.

The Breakers showed Wednesday night that they’re a quick study.

Second-seeded Laguna Beach put a narrow, first-round victory in its rear-view mirror by handling No. 3 Orange Lutheran 10-3 in the semifinals of the inaugural CIF-SS Open Division playoffs at Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.

The Breakers, who sent 11 seniors to collegiate programs last year, rallied to edge San Marcos 9-8 in overtime last week but came out with more intensity against Orange Lutheran. They led 7-1 in the third period and shut out UCLA-bound Anna Pearson.

“It kind of gut-checked us,” Laguna Beach junior center Charlotte Riches said of the San Marcos game. “It did teach us a lesson on the attitude of these big games (and) how to come out. Most of our players have never played in CIF before because there was that big group of seniors.”

Riches and senior attacker Hannah Carver each scored twice to lead eight Breakers in scoring. Junior goalie Lauren Schneider added 12 saves to lead a defense that held the Lancers to 2 for 10 effort on the power play.

Laguna Beach (25-5) will play top-seeded and league rival Newport Harbor (25-1) in the final Saturday at Woollett. The Breakers won Division 1 titles in 2019 and 2020 and were poised to claim another last season but the pandemic wiped out the playoffs.

Also in the Open Division:

Newport Harbor 13, Foothill 3: USC-bound Morgan Netherton scored five first-half goals, including three on penalty shots, as the Sailors opened a 7-1 lead at halftime and cruised to their first final since 2018.

Newport Harbor will ride an 18-game winning streak into Saturday.

Center Bia Mantellato drew two of the first-half penalty shots for Newport Harbor but was limited by two early fouls. The Hawaii-bound senior bounced back with three straight goals from center in the second half and finished with four.

Goalie Anne Reed anchored the Sailors’ defense with 10 saves.

In Division 1:

Corona del Mar 11, Harvard-Westlake 5: Senior utility Claire Eusey scored five goals and goalie Sarah Decker led the defense as the Sea Kings (18-13) beat the No. 2-seeded Wolverines at Woollett to reach their first final since 2019.

“The girls came out with a ton of energy,” said Corona del Mar coach Melissa Siedemann, whose team will face top-seeded Agoura in the final Saturday.

In Division 2:

Edison 8, San Juan Hills 7 (OT): The No. 2-seeded Chargers (16-10) scored in the final seconds of regulation and netted the only goal of overtime to edge the No. 3 Stallions (21-8) at Woollett to advance to the finals for the first time.

The Wave League co-champion plays top-seed Yucaipa in the final Saturday.

Senior Lilyanna Larson scored the game-winning goal with 37 seconds left in the first three-minute overtime, converting a counterattack chance off an Edison field block against a power-play shot.

Edison also edged San Juan Hills 9-8 in an overtime thriller Feb. 3.

The play of the match was made by Edison sophomore Jillian Van Gemert in the final seconds of regulation.

With San Juan Hills leading 7-6 and trying to run out the final 20 seconds coming out of a timeout, Van Gemert stole the ball along the lane-line on the Stallions’ side of the pool. She quickly passed in front of the San Juan Hills’ cage to Larson, who scored with 12 seconds left to force overtime.

“Great play,” Edison coach Nick Graffis said of the steal.

In Division 5:

JSerra 10, La Habra 5: The No. 2-seeded Lions (20-6) defeated the visiting Highlanders to reach their first section final. They will play top-seeded Centennial of Corona on Saturday.

In Division 4:

Oxnard 16, Cypress 12: Paige Taylor scored six goals and Adelina Martinez added four as the Yellow Jackets (26-5) led wire-to-wire in advancing to their first section final.

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