Stong Second Half Leads to Fountain Valley Victory

After falling behind in the first half, Fountain Valley charged back with a stingy defense and opportunistic offense and took charge of the game.

The result was a convincing 67-56 win over Marina in Sunset League play Wednesday in Huntington Beach. It gives the Barons a 15-8 overall record.

“We did a much better job on defense in the second half,” said Fountain Valley coach Roger Holmes. “We also made some good shots in the second half.”

Nathan Moss led the way for Fountain Valley with 21 points, followed by Zachary Matar with 18 and Judd Chamaa with 13.

For Marina, most of the offense came from Ji James with 19 points, Matt Swartz with 18 points and Jordan Adams with 11.

Matar proved to be a thorn in the side of Marina for most of the evening. Besides shooting well, Matar drew numerous fouls. Speed, good shooting and defense by the Barons kept the Vikings off balance, especially in the second 16 minutes of the game.

But it was a different story especially in the latter part of the second quarter. With two minutes left in the quarter, Marina tied the game at 29-29 and had momentum heading into the second 8 minutes.

The Vikings held a 33-29 lead at the end of the first half.

Fountain Valley came out running in the second half and after being fouled, Matar hit two free throws to tie the game at 33. That seemed to be the turning point in the game as Fountain Valley got the ball back on a turnover and Moss scored a layup to give the Barons a 35-33 lead.

Marina found itself behind 47-38 at the end of the third quarter. Marina often had a tough time holding onto the ball and making shots. Fouls also mounted up on the Vikings.

But Marina made one more run at it, closing the gap to 53-50 in favor of the Barons with 3:30 left in the game. But that was as close as it got, as Fountain Valley extended its lead for an 11-point victory.

The Barons hope to carry over some of tonight’s strong defense against Huntington Beach in a home game at 7 p.m. on Friday.