Haddad rips the nets for 39 in Red Storm triumph

The Fountain Valley Red Storm headed into its first round game of

the National Junior Basketball Championship Series Sunday without the

services of two of its players, and its unbeaten record appeared in

jeopardy against the unbeaten Long Beach Pacers.

But the Pacers didn’t stand a chance, however, as the Red Storm’s Samer

Haddad took over, scoring a career-best 39 points to lead the way in a

58-34 Fountain Valley victory in a Division 2 game.

Fountain Valley also received six points from Shane Webber and five

points from Eric Ferraro and in addition to Haddad’s scoring, another key

to the Red Storm’s success against the Pacers was their stingy defense.

In other NJB postseason action:

DIVISION 1

FV Magic 70, South Huntington Beach 39

This match up between two 10-0 teams turned into a rout for the Magic,

who led by just five points at the half. Nguyen Dau scored 20 points,

Matt Almanza netted 14, Nate Hagland grabbed 15 rebounds, and Ricky Hagen

scored 18 points and hit four, three-point shots to ignite a 45-19 second

half run by the Magic.

FV Grizzlies 49, Placentia 44

Led by the defensive play of Robert Hansen and Kevin Ferraro, and the

inside play of both Michael Entin and Nico Caputo, the Grizzlies were

able to build a 17 point lead heading into the final period.

Entin led the Grizzlies with 12 points and eight rebounds, Caputo scored

11 points with seven rebounds, and Robert Hanson also scored in double

figures with 10 points.

Pat Mererden’s 14 points paced the Rockets.

FV Hornets 38, Tustin Blazers 28

Fountain Valley’s defense held Tustin without a field goal over a

10-minute stretch of the first half. Keith Sinclair grabbed 15 rebounds,

Brad Young had nine, and Mike Castleberry added eight to control the

boards for the Hornets, whose balanced scoring attack featured nine

points from Evan Ocepak, eight by Sinclair, and six apiece from Jesse

Anaya and Brad Young.

FV Heat 64, Santa Ana 45

Matthew Derocili’s all-around performance matched 15 points with 15

rebounds, Viet Nguyen scored 13, and Paul Youssef added 12 more points

for the Heat, which set the game’s tone with a dominating defense that

created turnovers leading to fastbreak baskets.

DIVISION 3

Aliso Niguel 31, FV Sonics 24

Bobby Hosseiny scored six points and had seven rebounds and Jon Perez

also scored six points to lead Fountain Valley in defeat.

WEST HB NJB

DIVISION 1

Aliso Niguel 55, West HB 53

Tyler Mitchell’s three-point basket tied the score at 53-53, but Aliso

Niguel scored the winning basket with five seconds left in the postseason

game. Josh Belvedere led the West Huntington Beach Heat with 21 points,

Mitchell added 13, and Justin Ratowsky had 12 points along with 17

rebounds.