5-A Division : St. Bernard Beats Fountain Valley

Cold shooting, which plagued Fountain Valley High School throughout the regular season, cost the Barons a shot at a major upset in the first round of the Southern Section 5-A playoffs Friday night.

Even St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune admitted his team was lucky to escape with a 56-51 victory, one which wasn’t decided until the Vikings sank three free throws in the final 12 seconds.

“We played a lousy game and they outplayed us,” McClune said after watching his team squander a 12-point lead. “Physically, we have a much better team, but they outhustled us. We were fortunate to win.”

Fountain Valley Coach Dave Brown agreed.

“We played just about as well as we can,” he said. “But they made a lot of foul shots and we didn’t. With a basket here and a break there, it could have been a different outcome.”

St. Bernard, the Camino Real League runner-up, shot 69% from the field and 67% from the free-throw line to earn a quarterfinal playoff berth against Crespi, a 53-52 victor over Long Beach Wilson.

Fountain Valley, the Sunset League’s No. 2 playoff seed, shot 47% from the field and 58% from the line to waste a dramatic comeback and end the season at 13-13.

After struggling early, the Barons scored 10 unanswered points in the second quarter. The spurt was highlighted by a spectacular three-point play by Tim Johnson, a 6-foot 3-inch senior forward. He intercepted a pass and drove the length of the court for a dunk and ensuing free throw that livened up a listless Fountain Valley offense.

With 2:11 remaining in the third quarter, Johnson turned an offensive rebound into the Barons’ last lead, 32-31. He also had three steals and the only consistent Fountain Valley free-throw shooter. After missing half of his first eight attempts, Johnson hit his last six to lead all scorers with 16 points.

But despite allowing the Barons to control the tempo of the game, St. Bernard never panicked. The Vikings didn’t miss a free throw through three quarters and after missing five of their first seven in the final period, they iced the game when Ruben Monge hit both ends of a one-and-one with 12 seconds left on the clock.

The clinching blow, however, came with half a minute to go. After the 11th missed free throw by Fountain Valley, Joseph Hudson broke away for a reverse dunk that brought the St. Bernard bench to its feet. The 6-3 senior guard was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim but the damage was done. It was time for the Vikings to start celebrating.

The way the Vikings opened the game, it appeared they would make it a laugher. Eric Dunn controlled the tip and after one bounce, Hudson soared for a vicious slam that set the early tempo.

With a pressing man-to-man defense and a fast-tempo offense, the Vikings led 15-7 after one quarter and were cruising with a 21-9 lead before Johnson ignited Fountain Valley’s comeback.

“That one play sparked us,” Brown said. “It made us realize we could play with them. After that, they didn’t run on us a whole lot. We set the tempo on offense so they couldn’t get into their upbeat game.”

McClune had the same analysis.

“We tried to establish an up-tempo game but they disrupted it,” he said. “We had to play a lot of defense and that was demoralizing. They just didn’t allow us to get out and run.”

In other 5-A action:

Serra 102, Marina 67--Keith Malone scored a game-high 35 points to lead the Cavaliers past the Vikings (14-13) at Serra. The Cavaliers will face Pius X in the quarterfinals. Serra (21-4) made 33 of 44 free throws.