SUNSET LEAGUE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Defense and Hard Work Pay Off in Victory for Fountain Valley

There were no rim-rattling dunks or high-flying rebounds Friday night at Marina High. No magicians with the basketball. No sharpshooters rippling the nets.

But there was defense, and while that doesn’t exactly set gymnasiums abuzz these days, it certainly helped Fountain Valley defeat Marina, 51-41, in a Sunset League game.

Fountain Valley’s victory was all about hard work and hustle. No flash, only substance.

And for a while Marina seemed intent on matching every scrappy play Fountain Valley made with one of its own.

In the end, a 10-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter allowed Fountain Valley to pull away. Brandon Leimbach and Ara Petrosian led the Barons’ late surge, hitting key baskets in the final 6 minutes 46 seconds.

Leimbach had a game-high 14 points and Petrosian 11, including nine in the second half, to lead the Barons (9-6, 3-2 in league).

Matt Keim was the only Marina player to reach double figures, scoring all 13 of his points in the first half. That was just one measure of Fountain Valley’s up-close and personal defense.

“We tried going man to man against them, but they had a real good (offense) going,” Fountain Valley Coach Gordon Billingsley said.

Quickly, Billingsley switched to a trapping two-three zone that stifled Marina and “that seemed to work real well.”

With its own offense sputtering against Marina’s tight defense, Fountain Valley started clicking only when Billingsley made a change.

“We went to a baseline picking game and it opened things up a little bit,” he said.

Fountain Valley took the lead for good, 20-18, after a layup by Carter Hoggan midway through the second quarter. By halftime the Barons led, 26-22, and given the defensive nature of the game it might as well have been a 15-point advantage.

Marina (9-8, 2-3) made one strong run with a three-point basket by Kevin Sullivan and two free throws by Eric Endsley, bringing the Vikings to within 36-35 with 6:46 left in the game.

But that’s when Fountain Valley started its 10-point run and put Marina away. Fountain Valley kept Marina scoreless for a whopping 4:16, and by then the Barons had a comfortable, 46-37, lead.

In other league games:

Huntington Beach 64, Servite 45--Center Tony Gonzales scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds to help second-ranked Huntington Beach beat Servite (4-10, 1-4) to stay undefeated in league play. Guard Brian Chang, who had three three-pointers, added 15 points for the visiting Oilers (15-3, 5-0).

Ocean View 53, Santa Ana 51--Jim Harris scored 12 points and had four assists as host Ocean View (8-6, 4-1) took a 42-35 lead after three quarters and then withstood a rally by Santa Ana (5-10, 1-4). Darnell Adamson scored 18 points for Santa Ana.

Edison 64, Westminster 61--Trailing by 14 points in the fourth quarter, Westminster (0-5 in league) rallied furiously, making six three-pointers in the quarter, but fell short. Westminster made 13 of its 20 three-point shots in the game, including seven from Bobby Ishii. Micah Kroeger scored 11 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to help the Chargers (12-4, 4-1) hang on.