DIVISION I : Tough Breaks Haven’t Broken Fountain Valley

If ever there was a recipe for disaster, this was it. Nothing, and that means nothing, seemed to go in Fountain Valley’s favor.

The Barons lost player after player. Heck, they didn’t even have a gymnasium to call their own until January. So how did this team, with so much going against it, end up as Sunset League champions?

“Hey, it surprised me, too,” Coach Gordon Billingsley said.

But, through hell and high water, Fountain Valley won.

The Barons (20-5) finished above .500 for the first time since 1989. They were 12-2 in the Sunset League, winning their first league title since 1985. Fountain Valley even finished in style, winning its last 10 games and will play host to Long Beach Millikan tonight in the first round of the Southern Section I-AA playoffs.

Quite a list of accomplishments for a team that has only seven of its original 11 players left.

“We’ve had a little luck,” Billingsley said. “But we’ve made our own luck once in a while. I just have a bunch of overachievers. They battle.”

They’ve had to.

Even before the season began, the Barons were faced with adversity. Vandals trashed the Fountain Valley gymnasium, causing nearly $200,000 in damage. Repairs were not completed until early January.

The Barons were forced to practice at a church, which had only two baskets. They didn’t play a home game until Jan. 5, against Westminster in the league opener.

And still they won.

Fountain Valley won the Arroyo Grande tournament and were consolation champions of the Orange tournament. The Barons also reached the consolation final of the Cerritos-Gahr tournament where they lost in overtime to Esperanza.

The Barons have won all eight of their home games since the gym reopened. A fact not lost on them.

“Yeah, the kids keep telling me it has to be the new floor,” Billingsley said.

But the Barons had other problems.

As the season went on, their absentee list grew. They lost Mike Arvesen and Matt Byrd before the first game. Arvesen, who was coming off knee surgery, was discovered to have a heart arrhythmia. Byrd was lost because of grades.

They have been joined on the sideline by Javiar Scalini and David Arvesen. Scalini broke an ankle and Arvesen was told not to play by his dentist after having a tooth pushed in by an elbow against Huntington Beach.

“I thought we had a pretty solid team coming into the season,” Billingsley said. “But at one point, I just thought it wasn’t meant to be.”

And still they won.

Fountain Valley was 2-2 in league play, having lost to Huntington Beach (53-33) and Servite (62-38). Then the Barons got rolling.

Five of their victories have been by six points or less, including one-point victories over Huntington Beach and Servite.

Billingsley said the key moment in league play came during the second Huntington Beach game when the teams were tied for first. The Oilers jumped out to a 20-6 lead and appeared to be well on their way to their second title. Then Fountain Valley went on 17-0 run in the second quarter.

Arvesen, who had been knocked out of the game with an elbow to the tooth, came back and hit a three-pointer to give Fountain Valley a 57-56 victory.

“We don’t have any superstars and I think that’s why we always end up winning close games,” Billingsley said. “Our kids don’t care about flash. They just care about the ball going in the hoop.”

Brandon Leimbach and Phil Domingo--the only two Barons taller than 6 feet 2--are the team’s leading scorers. Leimbach, a 6-3 forward, averages 18 points and Domingo, a 6-5 center, averages 15.

But Billingsley credits point guard Danny Hoppie with much of the team’s success.

“He dictates what we do,” Billingsley said.

And what they do is win.

Said Billingsley: “The mental makeup of this team is that they think they can play with anybody.”

Division I-A at a Glance

Defending champion: Mater Dei.

Top-seeded teams: Mater Dei (26-0), Newhall Hart (21-1), Orange (20-3), Loyola (19-5).

Dark horse: Warren (20-6).

Top players: William Antonio (Arroyo Grande), Ryan Bailey (Los Angeles Loyola), Toby Bailey (Los Angeles Loyola), Dinari Bates (Capistrano Valley), Jeff Bone (El Toro), O’Real Cotton (Walnut), Schea Cotton (Mater Dei), Gil Gonzales (Orange), Thomas Harmon (Century), Jason Hartman (Thousand Oaks).

Best draw: Mater Dei. Hey, is there anyone out there who can give the Monarchs a game?

Worst draw: Orange. The Panthers are seeded third, but could face Corona (20-4), a solid league champion, in the second round.

Notes: This would be a wide-open division without Mater Dei, which seems destined to win its third-consecutive I-A title. The Monarchs are ranked second in the nation by USA Today.

Division I-AA at a Glance

Defending champion: Long Beach Jordan.

Top-seeded teams: Fontana (25-1), Los Alamitos (21-4), Long Beach Poly (20-6), Santa Ana Valley (23-3).

Dark horse: Lynwood (17-8).

Top players: Darnell Adamson (Santa Ana Valley), Joe Austin (Lynwood), Michael Batiste (Long Beach Wilson), Corey Benjamin (Fontana), James Brown (Long Beach Poly), Zerrick Campbell (Long Beach Poly), Travon Carmichael (Fontana), Alvin Counts (Ontario), Pharoah Davis (Palmdale Highland), Don Escobar (Bell Gardens), Chris Funderburk (Lynwood), Danny Hoppie (Fountain Valley), Brock Jacobsen (La Crescenta Crescenta Valley).

Best draw: Long Beach Poly. Fountain Valley (20-5), which is beat up, is the only league champion in its path to the semifinals.

Worst draw: Los Alamitos. Several good teams--Bell Gardens, Simi Valley, Canyon Country Canyon, Long Beach Wilson--are between the Griffins and the semifinals.

Notes: Lynwood finished third in the San Gabriel Valley League, but the Knights (17-8) are no ordinary No. 3. They finished behind Compton Dominguez, which is seeded No. 1 in II-A, and Warren, one of the top teams in I-A. Lynwood might have finished higher had it not lost Funderburk, who missed several games with a wrist injury. He returned last week.