THE PREPS : Sunset League Basketball Roundup : Huntington Beach Stops No. 4 Fountain Valley

Fountain Valley High School boys’ basketball team lost its first Sunset League game of the season when Huntington Beach beat the Barons, 71-61, in front of 2,000 Friday at Huntington Beach.

The Barons, ranked fourth in the Orange County Sportswriters Assn. poll, dropped to 16-3 overall, 4-1 in league play. Huntington Beach is 9-9, 4-1.

The victory moves Huntington Beach into a first-place tie with Fountain Valley in the league standings.

“We are glad to be 4-1 in the Sunset League at this stage,” said Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller. “Every win in this league is a big victory.”

The Barons also had a rough time on Wednesday, when they struggled to get past Marina, 62-56.

Huntington Beach received some outstanding play from senior forward Scott Drake, who had a game-high 25 points, and senior guard Andy Thompson, who had 18 points mostly on drives to the basket along the baseline.

Huntington Beach took a 38-25 halftime lead, but Fountain Valley was able to fight back in second half. The Barons chipped away at the lead when Drake picked up his fourth foul with more than 4 minutes to play in the third quarter and had to go to the bench.

Derrick Corcoran’s 3-pointer with just under 3 minutes to play in the game cut the Huntington Beach lead to 62-58, but that would be as close as Fountain Valley would get.

Quick baskets by Huntington Beach’s Steve Lucas and Jeff Long moved the lead back to 66-58, and Huntington Beach was able to hold on for the victory.

Junior forward Mike Merli was Fountain Valley’s leading scorer with 18 points, and Corcoran added 13.

Ocean View 61, Marina 41--Mike Frohn scored 22 points and Greg Evans 17 to lead visiting Ocean View (13-6, 3-2). Darren Ernst had 6 points and 7 rebounds for Ocean View. Tuan Nguyen scored 11 for Marina (8-12, 1-4).

Edison 63, Westminster 37--Bryan Murphy scored 10 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for host Edison (10-11, 3-2). Bill Martineau and Dan Lovelady each scored 9 points for the Chargers, who led, 37-10, at halftime. Michael Vu scored 12 points for Westminster (3-14, 0-5).