BOYS’ BASKETBALL : SUNSET LEAGUE : Fountain Valley Able to Hold Off Esperanza, 43-40

Daniel Keller knew Fountain Valley would hold on for a 43-40 victory over Esperanza Friday. But he had to sit and squirm with the rest of the fans.

Keller, the team’s leading scorer, sat on the bench because of a broken foot while teammate Javier Scalini made both ends of a one-and-one situation with 42 seconds remaining to give the Barons a three-point lead.

“My hands were shaking,” Keller said. “I really wanted to get out there.”

Esperanza had two chances to tie, but Jason Dillard and Lohnnie Tape each missed three-point shots in the final 20 seconds. The victory wasn’t secure until Fountain Valley’s Nathan Strange batted away the rebound of Tape’s miss as time ran out.

The victory gave the Barons (17-7, 8-2 in league) their second consecutive Sunset League boys’ basketball title, because Huntington Beach defeated Los Alamitos, 37-35. The Barons lost to Los Alamitos (19-7, 7-3), 74-66, Wednesday, when Keller broke his foot.

“I thought all along we could get a league championship,” Keller said. “I knew we had it in us.”

Keller’s confidence was contagious.

Scalini made his crucial free throws, although he missed four of his first five free-throw attempts.

“With Dan and Mike (Arvesen) not playing tonight, we knew we’d have to step up,” Scalini said. “There were some guys who came in, knew their roles and just played excellent.”

Arvesen joined Keller on the bench in sweats because of a heart condition that has worsened as the season progressed, Fountain Valley Coach Gordon Billingsley said.

Phil Uribe and Peter Jacobs filled in for Keller and Arvesen and did nothing to hurt the Barons.

With the score tied, 36-36, Uribe, who had five points, put the Barons ahead for good by making a 17-foot jumper with 3 minutes 28 seconds remaining.

Fountain Valley’s other three starters also played solid games.

Center Phil Domingo had 15 points and scored nine consecutive points in the second quarter to keep Fountain Valley close. Strange had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Point guard Paul Tayyar, the Barons’ lone ball-handler, had only two turnovers despite constant pressure from Esperanza’s defense.

Esperanza (14-12, 6-4) finished third in league, although it played the final seven league games without standout center Josh Greer. Greer was averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds before a broken foot ended his season.

Still, the Aztecs posted overtime victories over Fountain Valley and Los Alamitos without Greer and came within four points of sharing the league championship.

Billy Omer (15 points) and Tape (14 points) kept the Aztecs in Friday’s game and the teams exchanged one-point leads for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.

But Fountain Valley’s defense, which forced 10 second-half turnovers and held the Aztecs to three of 17 (18%) shooting from the field in the second half, eventually made the difference.

In other league games:

Huntington Beach 37, Los Alamitos 35--Trailing by two, Los Alamitos had the ball with 13 seconds remaining but couldn’t get a shot off.

Jeremy Johnson’s two free throws with 26 seconds left proved the difference for Huntington Beach (12-12, 5-5). Chad Jones had 14 points for Huntington Beach.

Jeremy Vandervoet had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Los Alamitos.

Marina 71, Edison 69--Andy Meyer had game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer for Marina (4-20, 2-8). Steve Bolton scored 17 points and Dan Perna had 16 for Marina. Brad Lisotto scored 16 points for Edison (12-12, 2-8).