By Matthew Nguyen, Staff Writer
Wednesday night, the Barons were defeated by the Huntington Beach Oilers in a close match with a score of 74-77 in their final league game of the season.
The Barons got out early, getting a quick bucket and three with their first two possessions. The Oilers responded back each time as the two teams traded baskets for the beginning of the first quarter until the Barons pulled away with a score of 11-6. After a time out, Huntington Beach rallied back hard, but the Barons still exited the first quarter with a lead of 17-16.
The Barons struck first yet again to open the second quarter, as they put in two easy buckets to start, including another score by senior Garrett Young. However, the Oilers weren’t down yet as they pulled off a 19-6 point run as the Barons lost their lead. Huntington Beach would score eight more consecutive points to increase their strangling 35-27 lead on Fountain Valley.
With the Huntington Beach crowd roaring and the clock winding down quickly, the Barons responded with back-to-back threes, including a deep pull-up jumper by sophomore Jeremiah Davis to close out the quarter with a score of 33-35.
Neither team backed down in the second half, as they both continued to trade baskets for the majority of the third quarter. However, the Barons would never attain the lead within the third quarter, always keeping some kind of distance between themselves and the Oilers. The two teams would enter the final period of the game with a close score of 50-51.
Both teams scored on their first possessions of the fourth quarter before Davis decided to completely take over the game offensively. With his soft touch and explosive athleticism, Davis drove to the basket for a tough “and-one” basket. On the next two ensuing drives, he would penetrate the Oilers defense for an acrobatic layup and soft floater, respectively. He scored seven straight points for the Barons in order to keep the game close with a score of 59-61.
The Oilers took command of the game coming out of the timeout as they eventually took a 75-67 lead over the Barons with under a minute left to go in the game. The Barons began to pull their starters from the game as there seemed to be little chance left in the game to pull of a miracle.
Yet, with roughly 30 seconds left in the game, the Barons drained a three. And after forcing a quick turnover, they drained another one. All of a sudden the score was 73-75 with about 15 seconds left on the clock and Fountain Valley having a legitimate shot to pull of the impossible. The Oilers would miss both of their ensuing free throws forcing a haphazard fast break that was saved by a Huntington Beach foul. They would split the free throws before fouling, yet again. The game would come down to a wide open three from the left corner that was clanked off the front of the rim by the Barons as the game ended in a score of 74-77.
