By Emily Doan
This Tuesday, the Lady Barons basketball team triumphed over the Los Alamitos Griffins with a final score of 44-35. Despite their slow start and aggressive competitors, Fountain Valley High School’s (FVHS) varsity girls’ basketball landed on top.
“[The game’s] similar to what they do. They have a slow start. But they always fight back and play hard till the end. They’re capable of making comebacks, and their defense is fantastic. Their defense sparks their offense,” assistant coach Thomas Ngo said.
Starting off with a tip-off to Los Alamitos, the Lady Barons struggled to match their opponents offensively. The first score of the game was a two-pointer by Los Alamitos, who quickly began to form a large point margain, making shot after shot. After a couple missed attempts and unsuccessful rebounds by FVHS, junior Margaret Tengan succeessfully made a layup, landing the Lady Barons on the scoreboard. With an assist from junior Madison Suekawa, key player senior Caitlin Okawa shot and scored a two-pointer, followed by an excellent three by sophomore Mary Nguyen. The Lady Barons left the first quarter still down, with a score of 9-15 for the Griffins.
The second quarter started off with a quick rebound by Margaret Tengan, scoring a two-pointer for the Lady Barons. As the quarter progressed, both teams started getting more and more aggressive, adding up fouls on both sides. Senior Caitlin Okawa hustled across the court, showing both her defensive and offensive skills, and scored back to back two-pointers. But with the Griffins strong defense and excellent scoring by #1, the quarter ended with the Lady Barons behind, 21-25.
Following half-time, both teams came in ready for a fight, hoping to break away from the close scoreboard. During a close scramble for a rebound, senior Enya Nguyen was shoved roughly to the ground, landing forcefully on her back. The match was paused while Nguyen remained on the court getting checked out by the medical personel.
“Everyone’s okay…it was a rough game and both teams were scrappy, both teams were fighting for loose balls. And so yeah, those things can happen. It gets a little scary when they start bumping into each other a lot,” assistant coach Thomas Ngo said.
The game soon resumed after Nguyen made her way to the sidelines, and senior Bianca Crader drove her way into the Griffins offense lineup, making key defensive plays. Margaret Tengan quickly made an astounding three-point shot, followed by a two by Suekawa. As the Griffin’s stamina started winding down, the Lady Barons did not let up, and they were able to end the quarter with their first lead of the game, 32-27.
FVHS fought to keep their position during the fourth quarter, with key defense by senior Kristen Ho and Margaret Tengan. With an assist by Suekawa, junior Audrey Tengan scored an outstanding three-pointer, adding to their small lead over the Griffins. After an attempt at a rebound, Audrey Tengan took a fall, making that the second close call for the Lady Barons. After a call by the referee and immediate dispute, key player for the Los Alamitos Griffins #1 ejected from the game with only two minutes remaining. Audrey Tengan was called back for a free throw for her technical foul, and the Lady Barons held unto their win, with a score of 44-35.
“Our team never quits. They never quit. I feel tremendous…sometimes the kids that don’t always show up on the scoreboard are the ones who do really, really good things,” head coach Marianne Karp said.
