On January 24, 2023, girls’ varsity basketball took on Laguna Beach in a hard-fought matchup during finals weeks at Fountain Valley High School. Senior Mary Nguyen and sophomore Sophie Hsieh led the way, racking up 13 and 12 points, respectively. On the defensive end, senior Dianna Burke contributed four blocks and sophomore Karley Waite two blocks along with six rebounds. Following a close game throughout, Fountain Valley’s defending aptitude eventually led to a resounding 49-38 victory over Laguna Beach.
The game started with Fountain Valley winning the tipoff. However, both teams failed to score for the first few minutes. This was thanks to the Barons’ strong defense, which was hard at work forcing turnovers and knocking away passes. Soon, the Barons managed to lead to an offensive breakthrough, as Mary Nguyen stole a wayward Laguna Beach pass and scored a pullup three-pointer on the other end, opening the scoring. Even though Laguna Beach countered with a three-pointer of their own a few moments later, Hsieh scored a corner three-pointer, assisted by Mary Nguyen. Then, in retaliation, Laguna Beach drove into the lane for a layup, answered by another corner three-pointer by Hsieh. Laguna Beach ended the quarter strongly, scoring two layups and forcing several Fountain Valley turnovers. However, in one of the final plays of the quarter, Hsieh swung the ball from the wing to sophomore Candice Tran, who proceeded to score a long jumper. The first quarter ended 11-9 in favor of Fountain Valley.
The second quarter featured the same defensive themes, with both teams forcing turnovers and drawing fouls. Following a Laguna Beach layup, Waite rebounded a missed three-point attempt by Fountain Valley, but fouled in the process. After this sequence, Fountain Valley forced a travel on Laguna Beach, getting the ball back. However, a missed Fountain Valley free throw arising from a foul led to Laguna Beach making a layup and cutting the lead to 15-14 with 2:07 left on the clock in the second quarter. A few seconds later, the Breakers made a three-pointer to take the lead. However, senior Alana Flores made a three-pointer from the wing to put the Barons up by one. Laguna Beach then made a layup, but was promptly countered by a corner three-pointer by junior Melody Nishi to extend the Baron lead to 22-19, heading into halftime.
The third quarter commenced with Laguna Beach making a corner three and tying the game at 22. Fountain Valley was unable to answer at the other end, with the Laguna Beach defense forcing a turnover. However, on the opposite end, the Barons were able to recover the rebound from a missed Laguna Beach jumper. Hsieh pushed the ball up the court, passing the ball to senior Mars Shepard, who scored an open transition layup. This quarter proved to be low-scoring, allowing both teams’ defensive capabilities to be on full display. With 2:15 left in the third quarter, a Baron inbound pass was stolen, leading to a Laguna Beach layup on the opposing end. Following this, Mary Nguyen drove towards the basket, hitting an off-balanced jumper inside the key to tie the game at 27. Capitalizing off a Laguna Beach turnover, Fountain Valley increased their lead to 30 thanks to a three-pointer by junior Samantha Nguyen. Following another Laguna Beach three-pointer, Mary Nguyen scored a three-pointer in return, assisted by senior Malia Kawakubo. The third quarter ended 36-30.
The fourth quarter started with Shepard scoring a putback layup following a missed jumper. Even though Laguna Beach responded with a reverse layup, the fourth quarter was all about Fountain Valley. Scoring 13 points and holding Laguna Beach to eight, the Barons were able to come out on top thanks to their precision from the 3-point line as well as a strong defense. From blocked shots by Burke to well-executed assists by Mary Nguyen that resulted in three-pointers by Nishi, Fountain Valley’s game was on point, as they won the game 49-38.
With the game’s conclusion, head coach Marianne Karp reflected on the game. “I wanted to see the kids play the same team game that they played when we just recently played Marina,” Karp said. “And I think we did. We were a little slow to start, but I think we pulled it a little together and got a spark from Dianna Burke.”
Overall, one thing coach Karp thought the team did well in the game was recovery defense.
“Recovery defense, so if someone gets beat, a teammate helps out and then the player that got beat recovers to another player,” Karp said. “I thought they did a really good job with that. I thought Mary Nguyen did an excellent job attacking the basket and finding her teammates. So that was phenomenal.”
“It’s a nice victory to have,” coach Karp said. “Laguna Beach keeps getting better and better every year, so I think it was a solid win for our team.”
