Fountain Valley can’t keep up with Valley Christian

The Fountain Valley High girls’ basketball team is one that has more freshmen than seniors on its roster.

The presence of five freshmen on the team is one fact that Barons coach Marianne Karp was quick to point out when addressing the team’s lack of identity at this early juncture of the season.

Through its first eight games, Fountain Valley has won the games it is supposed to, but the team is still trying to find its rhythm on the offensive end.

Against host Cerritos Valley Christian on Wednesday, the Barons were outmatched in foot speed, but another slow start offensively did not help matters in Fountain Valley’s second game of the Valley Christian Tournament.

The Barons managed just seven points in the first half, as Valley Christian defeated Fountain Valley 53-39 in a pool-play game.

Fountain Valley (4-4) fell to a bigger San Clemente team 58-43 in its opening game on Monday.

Karp’s team will resume tournament play on Friday.

Valley Christian (3-4) possessed the size advantage, too, and those players were also athletic. Following a Fountain Valley miss, the rebounder would often be the one to dribble the ball up the court to start the fastbreak.

Kira Smith was a catalyst for getting the Crusaders out in front early. She had seven points in the first quarter, as Valley Christian took a 17-5 lead at the end of the quarter.

“We just know that we’re capable of doing it,” Smith said of the team being able to run its offense without the ball being in the hands of a particular player. “We all know our strengths and our weaknesses, so we just play to our ability as a team and get the job done.”

Fountain Valley spent the entire second quarter in the bonus, but it failed to take advantage. The Barons missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities, missing all four of their free throws in the second frame.

The Barons found offensive rhythm in the third quarter, cutting a 24-5 Crusaders lead to 32-21 on a three-pointer by junior guard Kirsten Wong with 3:25 left in the quarter.

Fountain Valley would not be heard from in the quarter again, though. Jordan Ebalo, who had a game-high 13 points, scored the next two baskets for the Crusaders, halting the Barons’ momentum.

“I would say that, sometimes, we don’t find our shooters,” Karp said. “We are a slow-starting team, and we lean on somebody. Someone starts to hit, our kids tend to lean on that kid.”

Wong’s seven points led the Barons. Monet Oncu and Kat Luu each had six points.

Senior forward Stacy Truong had four points, nine rebounds and two steals.

“Stacy is a disrupter,” Karp said. “Stacy is one of those kids that everybody would love to have on the team. It doesn’t matter, offense, defense, she is going to disrupt things, and she is always going to look to push the ball up the floor. She looks to attack the basket, and we need more of that.

“Some of our kids play very timid, and trying to teach them not to play timid is one of the hardest things to do for a coach.”

Calla Anderson played closer for the Crusaders in the fourth quarter, getting to the free-throw line seven times in the final eight minutes. She finished with eight points, nine rebounds and three steals.

Enya Nguyen left the game at the 4:32 mark of the second quarter with a left ankle injury. Karp said that the freshman guard could have returned, but with the lopsided score, she kept her on the bench to preserve the player’s long-term health.

*

Valley Christian 53, Fountain Valley 39

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Fountain Valley 5 – 2 – 14 – 18 — 39

Valley Christian 17 – 8 – 11 – 17 — 53

FV – Wong 7, Luu 6, Oncu 6, Hamaguchi 5, Nguyen 4, Lai 3, Hugues 2, Ho 2, Shimizu 2, Okawa 2.

3-pt. goals – Wong 2, Hamaguchi 1.

Fouled out – Oncu, Hugues.

Technicals – None.

VC – Ebalo 13, Smith 10, Novotchin 9, Anderson 8, Bushong 6, Gordon 4, Baysic 2, Parham 1.

3-pt. goals – Smith 1, Bushong 1, Ebalo 1.

Fouled out – Baysic.

Technicals – None.

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner