By Uy Pham
After only seven players suited up in their last home game due to injury and illness, several players from Fountain Valley High School’s girls’ basketball returned to face Buena Park High School on Thursday. Freshman Sophie Hsieh, senior Mary Nguyen and junior Melody Nishi, who were all unable to play against Whitney, played important minutes in Thursday’s game. The game also saw the return of senior captain Mars Shepard.
The Barons (2-5) sought to add to their win streak after a win on the road against Santa Fe Springs, but fell short and lost 48-69 to the Coyotes. Coming into the game, Barons set both tactical and health goals for this nonleague matchup with the team still struggling with injured players.
“Our hope was that people don’t get hurt because we still are managing illness and injury,” coach Marianne Karp said. “This game, [we wanted] to get 20 rebounds per half.”
Melody Nishi helped the Barons by scoring several three-pointers to boost the score after a nine-point performance against Santa Fe. Returning as the leading scorer from Tuesday’s game, Mary Nguyen again led on both sides of the game by scoring, assisting and stealing crucial balls for the Barons. Other contributors to the Barons’ ball movement included Hsieh and sophomore Candice Tran who helped create several scoring opportunities.
Starting off the game, Nishi scored two three-pointers, but the Coyotes capitalized on two key turnovers to bring the score to 6-4. To increase their lead to 10-5, Mary Nguyen scored a layup from a steal by sophomore Karley Waite and assisted junior Yso Thantrong for 2 points with 5:23 remaining.
“We started off strong, fast,” Karp said. “For us to match up with [Buena Park] would be a challenge, but at the same time, we didn’t let down and kept battling. You can’t ask anything more of a player than for them to keep battling.”
While Barons struggled by missing some shots, Buena Park began gaining momentum by scoring to elevate the Coyotes into an 11-12 lead. Barons struck back with an off-the-glass shot by Shepard. A steal led to freshman Kailey Nishi scoring a three-pointer, but, with 41 seconds remaining, Buena Park responded with a three-pointer and a fastbreak to end the quarter with a 16-19 lead.
Hsieh began the second quarter with a three-pointer, but the Coyotes quickly responded with four points for a score of 19-23. After Waite completed an and-one play from junior Samantha Nguyen’s assist, Buena Park went on a scoring run. Each mainly resulted from Barons turnovers transforming into fastbreak scoring opportunities for the Coyotes which magnified their lead to 22-35.
With 3:20 remaining, Tran and Waite tried to restart the offense with two points each but another run by the Coyotes brought the score to 26-41. Mary Nguyen assisted Hsieh for two more points, but the quarter ended 29-43.
Mary Nguyen began the third quarter with a hard-fought defensive performance with three back-to-back steals. This allowed Tran to assist both Hsieh and Melody Nishi to score three-pointers bringing the score to 35-50.
Throughout the rest of the quarter, both sides struggled to score the ball with many missed shots due to excellent defense and blocks denying both teams points. With twelve seconds remaining, Hsieh scored another three-pointer to bring the score to 38-52.
To begin the fourth quarter, Buena Park went on another scoring run, securing a commanding lead of 40-65 with the only interruption coming from two free throws scored by Mary Nguyen. With only 4:37 remaining, the Barons attempted to respond with a final effort. Tran, Waite and Shepard all scored points while the team fought hard on defense, but the game ended 48-69.
“I just wanted to see them successful [by] playing hard and well,” Karp said. “We saw that tonight. We need to bring this intensity for every [single] game.”
The girls’ basketball team will play their next game on Dec. 7 in a tournament against Whittier Christian High School.
