Marina Upsets Third-Ranked Fountain Valley

Marina players had heard the same refrain all week from Coach Pete Bonny in practice: “Fountain Valley wins every fourth quarter.”

Thursday night at Marina, Fountain Valley won another.

But this time, it didn’t matter.

Sixth-ranked Marina, bolstered by six three-point baskets, timely shooting and terrific defense, scored a 64-54 upset of third-ranked Fountain Valley and created a tie atop the Sunset League girls’ basketball standings.

Marina (17-3, 5-1 in league) led by 18 points with 1 minute 56 seconds left in the third quarter after Kirsten Cappel scored inside.

Fountain Valley (20-3, 5-1) pulled to within 57-52 with 1:36 left in the game, but Marisa Emde took a pass under the basket from Natalie Nakase to make it 59-52, and added a steal eight seconds later that led to Cappel’s basket underneath on another assist by Nakase with 44 seconds remaining for a 61-52 lead.

Emde had 16 points, and Cappel (12 rebounds) scored 12, six in the fourth. Nakase had five points, seven assists and five steals.

Marina is 13-0 with senior Sonya Bryant in the lineup; she missed seven games with a bruised knee. She had 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and shut down Fountain Valley’s Jennifer Ludwicki for three quarters.

Ludwicki (nine rebounds) scored a game-high 22 points for the Barons, but 13 came in the fourth quarter. Nicole Strange had 15 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, and Heather Basco had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Marina made six of eight from beyond the three-point arc, and shot 48% (25 of 52) from the field. With a 10-8 lead in the first quarter, a 10-2 run broke the game open.

“Our shooting percentage [33%] was probably the worst it’s been,” Fountain Valley Coach Carol Strausburg said. “Defensively, Marina did a good job. There’s not one [Viking] who’s weak offensively; unfortunately for us, all of them were doing well.

“I didn’t think it would be that bad.”