Barons claim first league win

Mike Sciacca, Independent

The Fountain Valley High boys basketball team notched its first

Sunset League victory Wednesday night, but what made the triumph all the

more sweeter was that it came at the expense of archrival Edison.

The Barons used a 14-0 run during a two minute span midway through the

third quarter to wipe out a four-point halftime deficit, then went on to

claim a 59-52 victory on the Chargers’ home floor.

The win moved Fountain Valley to 1-3 in league, 12-8 overall.

The loss put Edison alone in the league basement at 0-4.

The Chargers are 7-11 overall.

It appeared the two teams would trade places in the league standings

after watching Edison twice open up leads of eight points in the first

half, the final time at 27-19 on Richard Schwartz’s three point play with

47 seconds left in the half. But Fountain Valley stormed back in the

final seconds, getting consecutive baskets from junior guard Daniel

Torres, to pull within a basket. However, Edison’s Matt Fredrickson drove

the length of the court and put up a shot at the buzzer. Fredrickson was

off the mark, but was fouled on the play. With the two teams heading into

the locker room, Fredrickson swished two free throws to give the Chargers

a 29-25 edge at the break.

Fountain Valley was lucky to be that close at the half, considering the

Barons scored just one basket in the game’s first four minutes and

finished the first quarter a miserable 2 of 10 from the floor.

“I was really surprised that we came out with such a lack of intensity,”

Fountain Valley Coach Mike Warrington said. “I mean, this is our big

rival, and I thought we’d really be fired up. We finally came around, and

the key to this win was that we definitely kicked up that intensity level

in the second half.”

Kyong-Su Min’s baseline drive and basket in the opening 17 seconds of the

second half expanded Edison’s lead to 31-25, but those were the only

points the Chargers would score during the next 5:04. Meanwhile, Fountain

Valley’s Kevin Edmunds scored six consecutive points and when Tucker

Fendon scored from the baseline, the Barons had the lead, 33-31 - their

first since Fendon’s steal and put back gave them a 10-8 advantage a minute into the second quarter.

The 6-foot-3 junior forward’s basket ignited the 14-0 run, which included

three-point shots by both Fendon and guard Salman Syed.

The Barons led at that point, 39-31, and it took a Steve Henderson jumper

with 2:39 to play in the quarter to end Edison’s drought.

Henderson, held to two points in the opening half, scored the final six

points of the quarter for the Chargers, who went into the fourth quarter

trailing, 44-37.

Fendon’s lay-in early in the fourth quarter pushed the Baron lead back up

to nine (46-37), but like Edison’s start to the second half, the Barons

would not score again over the next 5:08, when Fendon scored on a short

jumper to give Fountain Valley a 48-41 lead with 2:37 to play.

The Chargers pulled to within 46-41 on Christian Prelle’s three-point

basket and a Hendrickson free throw, and had several chances the further

narrow their deficit, but Henderson missed a jump shot from the top of

the key, then a layup, and Prelle was off target from three-point range.

Fountain Valley reached its first double digit lead (54-44) with 1:20 to

play on two Syed free throws. Edison could get no closer than six the

rest of the way, and Brendan Cotter came off the bench to sink five of

six free throws in the final minute to keep the Chargers at bay.

“I thought Tucker (Fendon) really did a great job on the offensive end,

and I give a lot of credit to Alex (guard Alex Morris) for his

outstanding defensive work,” Warrington said. “Those two guys really

sparked us out there. We’re really happy to get our first win.”

Fendon led all scorers with 19 points.

Fountain Valley will close out the first half of league play Friday by

hosting Esperanza. Edison, meanwhile, will visit Huntington Beach. Both

games tip off at 7 p.m.