High Hopes for Barons Hoops

The head coaching position for the boys' basketball team opened up a handful of times while Roger Holmes was at Marina High in Huntington Beach.

The time never seemed right to return his alma mater, however.

But after his son, Brendan, graduated from Marina last spring and previous Fountain Valley coach Chris Gray resigned, Holmes left Marina after 17 seasons and returned to the gymnasium where he set the school's single-season scoring record in 1977-78.

"It's neat to be back," Holmes said. "It was good timing."

Holmes initially planned to take this season off so he could watch Brendan play for Dominican University in San Raphael, but when he learned that Dominican's schedule did not conflict with Fountain Valley's, it afforded him the opportunity to continue coaching as well.

Holmes inherits a team that's short on varsity playing experience but long on determination. As he implements his offensive and defensive system, he's finding the players are quick learners. The Barons have finished no higher than fifth in the Sunset League the last four seasons, but he believes he can get the program heading in the right direction.

"I'm really just trying to change the way they approach games and get some winning mentality going," he said.

Fountain Valley was ranked 13th in the Division I-A preseason coaches' poll and won six of its first eight games heading into Monday night's matchup at Katella in Anaheim.

Judd Chamaa, a 6-foot senior shooting guard, has picked up some of the scoring slack previously taken up by Nam Pham, a second-team all-Sunset League player who averaged 14.4 points as a senior last season. Chamma is averaging 17.9 points through the first eight games, earning a majority from beyond the three-point line. Chamaa averaged 3.8 points while playing limited minutes last season.

"He's definitely a shooter," Holmes said.

Stepping in at point guard this season is 5-foot-7 junior Sean Myers, who is averaging 5.6 assists through the first eight games.

"He's doing a good job of getting ball to the right people," Holmes said.

Other players who are stepping up this season include Zach Mater, a 6-foot-5 senior forward who is averaging 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds, and 6-foot-4 junior forward Nathan Moss, who is averaging 8.1 points and seven rebounds.

The Barons will again face some tough competition when Sunset League play begins Jan. 7 at Edison in Huntington Beach. The Chargers already won the La Quinta and Irvine World News tournaments this season.

Los Alamitos has won the last seven Sunset League titles and nine of the last 10. Huntington Beach, which rejoined the Sunset League this season, returns most of its starters from last season.

"Those are the three really good teams," Holmes said.

Following Monday's game against Katella, the Barons are scheduled to play San Clemente at El Toro High on Thursday, then head to the Alvarez Tire Classic tournament in Prescott Valley, Ariz. next week.