Fountain Valley (11-5) hosted the Edison Chargers (14-2) in a sunset league matchup, in which the Barons were looking to bounce back from an 8 point loss at Huntington Beach while the Chargers were coming off a dominating 22 point win against Newport Harbor.
Earlier in the day, Barons’ boys soccer had triumphed over Edison with a 1-0 win. Free sixth man shirts were given out to those who arrived early and the gym was packed with prideful barons hoping basketball would accomplish what soccer had done just hours before the tip.
The Barons won the tip to start things off, but quickly fell behind as the Chargers opened the game on a 12-0 run.
Suddenly the cheers got quieter, but the loud crowd was on their feet the entire game holding onto hope that a comeback would ensue. Barons made quick substitutions and Josh Armstrong (’13) checked in the game and scored the Baron’s first 5 points leading a 9-0 run.
Co-captain Nathan Moss (’12) explained, “Edison came out on fire and we just had to take a deep breath and get settled into the game. We were getting good looks, but we just couldn’t knock them down.”
The highlight of the first half was when Edison guard Corey Foster connected with forward Dreon Barlett on a backdoor alley-oop slam dunk play which shell shocked the home crowd. The Barons came right back with a 3-pointer and Edison answered with one of their own as the two teams fired back and forth at each other and at the end of the half Fountain Valley found themselves behind.
Edison’s two headed dragon of Barlett and Foster had dominated the first half.
“Coach made a point for us to play better defense, especially with Dreon. He scored over half of their points in the first half, so we had to shut him down.” said Moss of the Baron’s halftime adjustments.
Things are easier said than done of course as Dreon Barlett is 7th in the state in points scored and him and Foster average a combined 44 points per game. But the Barons were determined as they entered the second half with a different starting lineup and it worked. Moss had more touches in the post and abused Edison’s front line.
“It was the game plan from the beginning for us to get the ball into the post. In the second half we just started to execute better and I was up for the challenge,” said Moss.
The game was close, but the Barons were still trailing entering the fourth quarter. The top scorers on Edison were freezing out and the Fountain Valley fans were louder than ever.
“The crowd kept us motivated the whole game. You could tell all of the cheering really affected how we played and it kept the momentum on our side. The LOUD CROWD was amazing,” said Moss.
Offensive rebounds, 1s, 3-pointers, steals, winning loose balls, and blocked shots were everything Fountain Valley had success in during the final period. Sean Myer’s (’12) hit a 3-pointer to tie up the game for the first time since the tip off. Barlett was held scoreless in the final two minutes of the game and missed open shots that were automatic in the first half, but then Foster took over and scored on a drive which gave Edison the lead, until Armstrong nailed a 3-pointer to swing the momentum back to Fountain Valley and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
In the final and most clutch moments of the game Dreon’s shot attempt was blocked and Foster was unable to score off the offensive rebound and the Barons had the ball. They just had to hit free throws to seal the game. As Myers went up to the free throw line he heard chants of “M-V-P!”
When asked about the chant Myers said, “It was unreal hearing that chant. I felt like an NBA player. The LOUD CROWD was great.”
Myers hit both free throws and then the fouling game began and the Barons clawed their way back into the game edging out Edison 59-53. Barlett was held to 18 points at the end of the game and Foster ended with 14.
“Josh played great tonight, it was nice to see him play to his potential and as far as this team, the sky is the limit. It’s just how bad we want a league title and more,” explained Myers.
Armstrong led the way for the Barons with 20 points, Moss with 17, and Myers with 13. As the final buzzer sounded, the basketball team looked directly at the loud crowd and acknowledged their thanks by running into the stands high fiving fans and hugging friends as they celebrated the defeat of the rival Chargers. The Barons head to Marina to play their next game this Friday where head coach Roger Holmes will face the team he had coached just two years ago.
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