Fountain Valley Eliminated by a Basket at the Buzzer

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Long Beach Poly’s James Brown took an off-balance shot from the top of the key that rolled around the rim and into the basket at the buzzer to give the Jackrabbits a 50-48 victory over Fountain Valley in the Southern Section I-AA boys’ basketball quarterfinals Tuesday night at Edison High School.

Brown broke loose for a last ditch shot after Poly took the ball out of bounds with seven seconds left.

Fountain Valley (23-6) nursed a small lead most of the fourth quarter and led, 48-45, on Daniel Keller’s basket with 2:16 remaining. But Poly’s Damon Dawson made a three-point play on a rebound basket and a free throw with 1:51 left to tie the score, 48-48, and set the stage for Brown’s heroics.

“We did a good job defensively,” Fountain Valley Coach Gordon Billingsley said. “We contained and slid across and helped out. We just couldn’t hang on to our leads.”

Long Beach Poly (23-6) will play Long Beach Wilson in Friday night’s semifinal.

The Barons’ Phil Domingo led all scorers with 18 points and teammates Keller and Brandon Leimbach added 13 apiece. Chris Hardy led Poly with 17 points. Fountain Valley shot 61.8% from the floor on 21-34 shooting.