by Olivia Krueger & Anju Ito, staff writers
Last Friday on Feb. 3 in a league home game, the Barons played a poorly executed game and took a 31-63 loss against the Huntington Beach Oilers.
The game started off with players Sean Huynh (‘17), Cody Newsome (‘17), Garrett Young (‘19), Paul Vu (‘18) and Josh Gray (‘18). Gray scored the Barons’ first points of the team three minutes into the game. Later into the quarter, Newsome made a bold three-pointer near the mid-court line as the crowd erupted into cheers. The Oiler’s strong passing and solid defense prevented the Barons from making strong plays afterward, and ended the first quarter 9-16.
The second quarter began with many missed three-point attempts which plagued the team throughout the game. “We didn’t make shots. Other games we were making shots”, said Newsome.
Vu earned valuable points from making both of his free throws. While he blocked the Oilers from scoring, Vu made a smooth three-pointer and chipped away at Huntington’s lead 14-20. However, the Oilers went on an offensive rampage and increased the gap 18-34 after a 9-0 run. Huynh left the Barons with a glimpse of hope when he shot an impressive three-pointer as the buzzer rang to mark the end of the quarter, the Oilers leading 21-34.
As the Barons look to begin their comeback after halftime, Newsome made a 3-pointer within the first minute of the third quarter. After what seemed like a good start, the Oilers went on an 8-0 run to increase the score deficit to 24-42. Careless ball handling by the Barons lead to two turnovers on the offense and allowed two wide open layups. To disrupt Huntington’s offense dominance, Newsome stole the ball from the defense and picked up the foul and went 1-2 on his free throw attempt.
Newsome scored the only four points made in the quarter and the offense continued to show their struggles.
“Mike Lightbody averaged 20 points per game so it has been difficult without him but the boys have risen to the challenge as we have lost four league games by single digits and even won one,” said Schultz.
As the Barons showed major fatigue, the defense allowed a wide open 3-point jumper to end the third quarter 25-49.
The Oilers resisted to show weakness and began the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run until Nathan Do (‘18) overcame the defense and made a layup. The Barons’ accuracy flaw still lingered in the final quarter proved to be their biggest downfall against the Oilers.
“Gave great effort but only shot 18%. We are not going to beat anyone when we miss that many shots,” said Schultz.
Fountain Valley scored only six points in the fourth quarter while Huntington Beach, who went into double-digit quarters for the fourth time, scored 16.
Newsome lead the team with nine points, followed by Gray who scored six.
The Barons are now 1-7 in league games and 9-16 overall. The next game will be a league game at FVHS against Newport Harbor.
