GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Little Player Has Big Night in Fountain Valley Victory

Fountain Valley has big players who can go inside, but Saturday night it was a little player shooting from the outside who helped the Barons upset Huntington Beach, 54-39, in a Sunset League girls’ basketball game at Huntington Beach.

Shilpa Shah, a 5-foot-2 senior point guard, scored 23 points after going scoreless in the first quarter to lead the Barons.

Fountain Valley (9-8, 3-1 in league) was expected to get scoring from its front line of 6-0 Christina Coleman, 5-11 Michelle Kravik and 6-1 Julie Murdent, but the three combined for 10 points. Shah made up the slack, going four of six from three-point range and seven of eight at the free-throw line.

“When Shilpa made the three-point shots, it raised the intensity level of the game,” Fountain Valley Coach Carol Strausburg said. “Shilpa had a good night. Hopefully, after tonight she will be confident to shoot. She hasn’t taken a lot of threes (before).”

Huntington Beach (10-7, 4-1), ranked 10th in Orange County, entered the game as the only undefeated team in the Sunset League.

Fountain Valley started the game slowly, trailing, 16-10, in the first quarter as Huntington Beach’s Tuesda Wistrick scored eight of her 16 points. The Barons then tied the score, 20-20, with 1 minute 1 second remaining in the first half on Gina Ybarra’s two foul shots.

The Barons never trailed after that, taking a 25-20 lead at halftime and stretching the lead to 36-30 in the third quarter. With 50 seconds remaining in the quarter, Huntington Beach rallied behind Wistrick, who made one field goal and was fouled on another, bringing the Oilers within three at 36-33. The Oilers never got any closer.

In another Sunset League game:

Edison 66, Santa Ana 37--Melanie Iwamasa scored 22 points and Leila Ryan added 11 points and five steals for visiting Edison (7-7, 2-2). Yolanda Gonzalez had 10 points for Santa Ana (7-5, 1-3).