Written and Photographed By Tue Duong
On January 4, in their first league game of the year, the Fountain Valley Barons beat the Oilers at home 72-60, with smart passes and easy baskets.
As the Oiler players were being announced, our FVHS loud crowd fell conspicuously silent as the Baron crowd sat reading newspapers, minding their own business. But when FV took the court they roared back to life.
The first half of the game, especially the second quarter, was mostly an outside-shooting show for Fountain Valley, starting with Joey Peterson’s three-point basket. While Huntington Beach matched Fountain Valley’s pace with three-point shots of their own, they couldn’t break the Baron lead. Especially with plays like Jackson Gatlin jamming the ball after a fast break at near the end of the quarter, Fountain Valley’s lead swelled to 13 points at the end of the first half, 40-26.
The second half started with a good inside game by the Barons as they took their lead to its peak at 71-48. Huntington Beach rallied at the last few minutes of the game, but couldn’t pull up a victory. Fountain Valley finished it off with a free throw by Josh Armstrong.
Jackson Gatlin led the Barons in scoring with 25 points, 15 points in the first half. Josh Armstrong boasted 23 points, Joey Peterson with 14, and Tanner Trounce with 10.
Next up, Fountain Valley faces Newport Harbor Wednesday January 9th, and then the Barons will bring it back home on Friday January 11th, against Los Alamitos.
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