Barons Show Tireless Hustle, Heart

Fountain Valley girls' basketball coach Saki Takemoto has been emphasiszing the importance of intensity and fire on the court all season long, so it had to be almost more encouraging for her to see it from her team Thursday night when it came in a 25-point loss at home to Huntington Beach.

"We didn't care what the score was," Takemoto said of the Barons' 66-41 loss. "We had spurts here and there. We just couldn't be consistent. But I'm really proud about the way that they played. They played hard."

The Barons hustled, scratched and clawed for 32 minutes straight, leaving it all on the floor against a deep, sharpshooting Oilers squad that moved the ball with precision and rained down 3-point shots from the opening tip to the final buzzer.

"They're amazing outside shooters," Takemoto said of the Oilers. The Barons will try end their home schedule on a positive note Tuesday night when they take on Newport Harbor, a team Fountain Valley has already handled twice this season.

"It's senior night, so there's going to be a lot of excitement, and hopefully positive energy that we can channel into being successful that night," Takemoto said.