By Shayan Abbasi
On Thursday, Feb. 2, the Fountain Valley Barons took on their rivals, the Edison chargers. Though losing 49-51, the team played hard throughout the game, closing the gap and making big plays down the stretch. Led by big performances from senior JJ Gray who had 13 points and senior Fernando Garcia who made key defensive plays during the final minutes, the Barons were able to comeback from a ten-point deficit.
Starting the game off slowly, the Barons missed their first several shots and gave up early points on the defensive end, falling behind 0-5 to start the game. Gray scored the first points of the game for Fountain Valley, a long jumper just short of the three point line. Edison countered with a three-pointer, extending their lead to six. Fountain Valley seemed to find their defensive footing, deflecting passes and forcing shot clock violations on Edison. Soon, this resulted in offensive breakthroughs. Sophomore Devin Payne putback a missed Fountain Valley layup and Gray made a corner three-pointer, cutting the deficit to two. Though Edison capped the quarter with making a pair of free-throws, the momentum had shifted in favor of the Barons, as they improved on both defensive and offensive.
The second quarter commenced with Edison making a quick layup, after which sophomore Aaron De Santiago pulled up for an elbow jumper. The Edison offense was on point, making a pair of three-pointers and a layup to go up 11-21 with 5:54 remaining in the first half. Fountain Valley kept playing hard, however, as Gray made a three-pointer, then followed it by rebounding an Edison miss, pushing the ball up, and scoring a fadeaway free-throw line jumper to cut the lead to five. Edison was over the foul limit late in the first half, allowing Fountain Valley to shoot free throws and keep cutting into the lead. Following an Edison three-pointer, senior Ethan Huynh made a three-pointer in response, assisted by Gray. With 20 seconds left on the clock in the first half, Garcia rebounded a missed shot by Gray and kicked it out to an open Huynh, who scored a three-pointer from the wing, beating the buzzer and cutting the Edison lead to three heading into the second half.
The third quarter continued with Fountain Valley forcing an Edison turnover. On the offensive end, junior Parker Rodriguez dribbled in for a jumper, assisted by Gray. On the next possession, the Barons were able to force a five second violation on the Edison inbound. Following this, Garcia found an open Gray, who was able to score a three-pointer and tie the game at 30 flat. Fountain Valley was unable to maintain this defensive dominance, however, as Edison went on to score a pair of layups and a three to extend their lead to seven, causing Fountain Valley to call a timeout. After the timeout, Fountain Valley seemed to find their stroke offensively, as Payne dribbled into the paint and scored a fadeaway shot. An offensive foul by Edison allowed Fountain Valley to regain possession. Following a Fountain Valley miss, Gray secured the offensive rebound and dribbled into the key, sinking the floater. Showcasing their chemistry, Gray and Garcia ran a pick and roll play which allowed Garcia an open look at the basket. On the next possession, Edison made a three-pointer, increasing their lead 36-41 heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter commenced with Gray making the first points of the quarter, a pair of free throws. On the other end, Edison drove into the key and made a difficult layup. Fountain Valley countered with a deep three-pointer by Huynh, cutting the lead to two as the crowd went wild. Edison went on to score two more layups, after which Fountain Valley shifted into a full court press in order to contain the Edison offense and force turnovers. As Edison drove towards the basket, Garcia was able to block the shot, deflecting the ball inbounds. Out of worries of a five second violation, Edison called a timeout but was unable to inbound the ball, resulting in a turnover. Junior Colin Risse made a corner three-pointer assisted by Gray. On the next possession, Gray stole a wayward Edison pass and made an outlet pass to De Santiago, who ran a pick and roll play with Garcia. Garcia made the layup and was fouled, making the free throw to complete the three point play.
With 28.2 seconds left in the game, Edison made two free throws to increase their lead to three. Driving towards the basket, Garcia was fouled again and made two free throws to cut the lead to one. After Edison made a free throw, Fountain Valley were unable to score, as Gray’s pass to Garcia was deflected, allowing Edison to win the game 49-51.
Regarding key players, Coach Holmes said, “JJ [Gray] and Fernando [Garcia] both played great but all the other guys contributed and Troy Leach on defense played great and Ethan [Huynh] came off the bench and did a good job too, so we were all playing hard.”
