by Olivia Krueger, Staff Writer
Despite injuries and questionable calls, varsity boys basketball battled hard and triumphed 53-61 in a league game against the Marina Vikings.
Fountain Valley came out strong with their starting five, Sean Huynh (‘17), Cody Newsome (‘17), Garrett Young (‘19), Paul Vu (‘18) and Josh Gray (‘18), in the first quarter and scored 19 points while they held Marina to 11. The team flashed their defensive skills throughout the first quarter but also let Marina to the free throw line three times.
The absence of senior captain Mike Lightbody started to show in the second quarter when the offense scored just 11 points; the defense remained strong, however, only allowing 12, and the score was 31-25 Barons at half. However, questionable fouls were consistently given throughout the second quarter, as well as throughout the entirety of the game.
“To have that many fouls against us, there was no explanation for us, there was nothing our guys were doing wrong,” said Coach Steven Schultz.
The Barons showed their team chemistry during the third quarter with good plays and racked up 15 points and allowed 14. Three more fouls were given to Marina who had a recorded a total of 12 on the night. Jake Brooks (‘20) missed a three-point buzzer beater and the score was 45-38 going into the final quarter.
Offense and defense held their own in the fourth quarter and both scored and allowed 15 points. Marina came within three points, but a 7-0 run down the stretch helped Fountain Valley secure the win.
“Losing Mike Lightbody, who was our senior captain and third-year returner, also our leading scorer, that was a big concern tonight for us, was offense, who was gonna step it up and so many guys stepped up tonight,” said Schultz.
Newsome lead the team with 21 points followed by Vu with 10, Vinh Ngo (’18) and Young tied with 9.
“It was a great team effort and I think that was the difference, a lot of teams have a lot of better individual talent than we do, but we play a good team and we’re proud of our guys,” said Schultz.
The next home game will be against Edison on Friday, January 27 at 7:00 p.m.
