By Uy Pham
Co-head coaches Izabella Om and Camryn Hamaguchi began their first season in charge of Fountain Valley girls’ basketball with two goals: to win and, more importantly, to create memorable seasons for all their players in their high school careers.
And adding to the accolades of a memorable season with the CIF-SS playoffs still ahead, Fountain Valley’s (9-3 league) 43-40 victory against the Los Alamitos Griffins (9-3 league) on Monday night secured the Griffins and Barons as the Sunset League co-champions. This marks the Barons’ first league title with the Sunset League’s reformed seven-team competition, following their outright Sunset Wave League title in 2022.
In their previous matchup, the Griffins bested the Barons by two in a 53-51 win.
“Immediate reaction, relief. These past few weeks, I’ve been very nervous about this game because it could go either way. Los Alamitos is very talented, and if we don’t follow our game plan it can be very ugly,” Izabella Om said. “The first time around it was a very close game with scary moments and turnovers. At the end of the day, they did what they were supposed to do, and I was like, ‘Oh, thank goodness.’”
The Barons’ regular season showcased a tight finish leading up to the final games of the season. The Sea Queens defeated the Griffins twice, while the Barons shared a pair of one win and one loss against both the Sea Queens and Griffins. Contending for the title until their defeat against Los Alamitos, the Marina Vikings finished fourth with an 8-4 league record.
If Corona del Mar wins on Tuesday against rivals Newport Harbor, the Sea Queens (8-3 league) will join a three-way tie for first.
The Griffins scored three-fourths of their points from ten successful three-pointer completions; however, senior Karley Waite and Avery Jones each scored 11 points to lead the Barons’ scoring while securing a multitude of offensive and defensive rebounds. Senior Victoria Om facilitated the Barons’ ball movement throughout the night, and junior Sophie Hsieh recorded key defensive steals.
“Our plan was to not let [Los Alamitos] shoot those threes. Unfortunately, we struggled getting a hand up in their face,” Izabella Om said. “We constantly wanted the girls to get a hand in their face, make them put the ball on the floor and shoot layups and inside the key.”
Both teams started off scoreless in nearly the first four minutes of the first quarter. Initially, the Barons struggled to locate their shots, while the Griffins failed to convert their own shots. However, defensively, Victoria Om and Hsieh secured rebounds, and Waite and junior Kailey Nishi recorded steals.
Working to maintain their possession, the Barons shifted to a two-post offense rather than their typical four guards-one post lineup, similar to their victory against title-contenders Corona del Mar. Scoring a quick three-pointer, Los Alamitos broke the scoring deadlock with 4:23 remaining. 20 seconds later, Waite rebounded and converted a put-back shot to bring the score to 2-3.
“It’s a risk playing with the two post-offense because [the posts] have to get out on those three-point shooters,” Izabella Om said. “We struggled a bit, but offensively, it gives us an advantage because they only have one big, and our two gives us more opportunities to score.”
With the Griffins recording their fifth team foul in the first quarter, the Barons sent Hsieh to the line. She converted her first free throw, and Jones rebounded the second attempt to score a layup. Los Alamitos scored an open corner three-pointer, but the Barons pushed forward their lead, thanks to a jumper by senior Candice Tran and Jones’s free throw followed by a put-back by Waite.
The advantage disappeared with the continuation of Los Alamitos’s three-pointer-powered offense, scoring two in the final minute and seizing a lead of 11-12 to end the first quarter.
Opening the second quarter, Victoria Om dribbled behind the back and danced her way to the basket for a layup. Tran’s offensive rebound led to an assist to senior Dasani Pham for a three-pointer, but the Griffins scored a jumper in response. Bringing the score to 18-16, Victoria Om spun around a defender for a layup, and the Griffins scored a layup.
The momentum soon slowed in the quarter, with the Griffins’ defense forcing the Barons to maneuver the ball through the court. Los Alamitos converted two more three-pointers, totaling six so far in the game.
Both the Griffins and Barons struggled to convert their shots, but Hsieh’s steal led to Jones’s layup. Finishing the quarter with Victoria Om’s drive to the basket and a downcourt pass to Jones, the Barons went into the third quarter with a lead of 24-22.
Los Alamitos ignited on a 10-2 run in the first five minutes of the third quarter, including two additional three-pointers. Hsieh recorded another steal and defensive rebound, along with assisting Waite’s cut to the basket for the Barons’ first points of their third-quarter scoring drought.
“It was important I called a timeout [in the third quarter] because we had to stop their momentum. The girls on the floor were very tired [and] when you fatigue, you make mistakes,” Izabella Om said. “I said to them, ‘Los Alamitos has a bunch of quick, fast guards, so they’re going to speed us up,’ And with that, we’ve got to control the pace of the game … we were able to make that adjustment.”
In the final minute, sophomore Kaylie Sasaki scored a three-pointer to diminish the Griffins’ lead to two at 29-32, but the Griffins scored another three-pointer to cancel out Jones’s two free throws.
Shifting to the final quarter, Waite entered foul trouble, resulting in senior Krystal Pham playing crucial minutes. Krystal Pham connected an under-the-basket shot from Hsieh’s inbound pass, going on to score four additional points.
The Griffins sought to dominate the rebounding game as part of continuing their three-point heavy-offense resulting in misses and a blocked shot by Jones. Los Alamitos converted a jumper, but both teams had struggles of their own. Culminating in a scoreless three minutes, turnovers proved costly for the Barons, but the Griffins struggled to convert their shortcuts.
Pushing the Barons ahead of the 37-37 tie, Sasaki rebounded the ball, drove and scored a fast-break mid-range jumper to propel Fountain Valley ahead with 1:48 remaining. Victoria Om spun around the defender, finding Waite under the basket for a four-point lead.
Los Alamitos’s tenth and final deep three-pointer of the game closed the gap to 41-40. In what became the deciding bucket of the game, Waite rebounded the ball and scored a put-back shot for the Barons.
“Biggest message was to keep your composure. Get a stop,” Izabella Om said. “Defense was most important, but offensively we can relax. We don’t need to rush any shots, but we have to get a hand in the face … no open shots.”
After the Griffins’ timeout, a missed three-pointer by Los Alamitos and a defensive rebound secured by Waite finished the game as the shot clock expired.
Girls’ basketball will advance to the CIF-SS playoffs as the 88th-ranked team in the Southern Section.
“Our biggest goal is to stay healthy, and we’ve been playing a lot of games. I want to make it as far into the playoffs as possible … All of the teams we are going to face will be strong, and we have to be focused and play together,” Izabella Om said. “I’m very proud of these girls going through tough games, tough losses, but what matters is how we finish — we finished strong.”
