Fountain Valley boys’ basketball pulls into first-place tie after downing Marina

Of all of the area high school boys’ basketball teams, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus hit Fountain Valley arguably the hardest.

Headed into the last week of the regular season, the Barons have played a handful less games than most teams.

“We were shut down for 14 days, and we started late because we had COVID issues at the beginning of the season,” Fountain Valley assistant coach Timicha Kirby said. “We had no preseason games, no practice. We were dealing with a lot.”

Fountain Valley has pulled itself together, though, in time to be in a position to capture its second straight Wave League title.

Junior forward Jeremiah Whitmore scored 22 points as the Barons earned a key 67-55 victory over Marina on Friday night at home.

Fountain Valley (9-8, 3-1 in league) moved into a first-place tie with Marina (17-8, 3-1) with two league games remaining.

Senior point guard Roddie Anderson added 15 points for the Barons, who avenged a loss at Marina three days earlier. Sophomore wing Carter Bryant had 11 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Jeremiah Whitmore, center, shown going up for a rebound on Tuesday, led Fountain Valley with 22 points on Friday night.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

The Barons played without head coach D’Cean Bryant, who Kirby said was dealing with a family emergency.

Both teams started slow, but Fountain Valley earned a 27-24 halftime lead. The hosts then pulled away in the third quarter.

Kirby called timeout after Marina senior Eric Hodgkins nailed a three-pointer to give Marina a 35-34 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Barons responded, going on a 12-0 run capped when Anderson fed Whitmore for a transition dunk.

Fountain Valley went into the fourth quarter up 10 points, and the lead never fell below nine after that.

Whitmore, a talented transfer from Corona Centennial, has been coming off the bench for Fountain Valley.

“Being new, he’s still learning the plays,” Kirby said. “He just provides excellent energy. It never matters who starts, it’s all about who’s productive. We may switch the lineups tomorrow. We don’t care about that.”

The Barons do care about winning league. Senior guard Aden Casarez had 11 points for Fountain Valley, which got the home crowd fired up with four dunks in the game — two by Anderson and two by Whitmore.

Marina’s Eric Hodgkins, right, shown in action on Tuesday, scored a team-high 20 points Friday night.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

But Carter Bryant said it all started with defense.

“We really emphasized playing hard defensively, not letting their guys get to their spots,” he said. “When their guys get to their spots and you don’t push them off their spots, they’re a really hard team to beat because they’re really good shooting the ball. Their guys always have their head up, always looking to make the extra pass or the right play. Even though they’re undersized, they’re a really good team.”

Hodgkins led the Vikings with 20 points, and senior Robert Aguirre scored 16. But nobody else scored more than five points for Marina, which had senior point guard Kylle Magdangal foul out late in the third quarter.

“They put a little more attention to detail on their defensive side, and they attacked the rim a little bit better today,” Marina coach Nick Racklin said. “I don’t know, it was a good basketball game. They’ve got three [NCAA] Division I players. They should beat us.”

The teams would share the league title if they both win their last two games. Fountain Valley hosts Corona del Mar on Tuesday and Huntington Beach on Thursday, while Marina plays at Huntington Beach on Tuesday and hosts the Sea Kings on Thursday.

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Wave League

Fountain Valley 67, Marina 55

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Marina 6 – 18 – 16 – 15 — 55

Fountain Valley 7 – 20 – 23 – 17 — 67

M — Hodgkins 20, Aguirre 17, Carabine 5, Armstrong 5, Magdangal 4, Duremdes 4.

3-pt. goals — Hodgkins 3, Aguirre 3, Armstrong 1.

Fouled out — Magdangal.

Technicals — None.

FV — Whitmore 22, Anderson 15, Bryant 11, Casarez 11, Stead 4, Garcia 2, Gray 2.

3-pt. goals — Casarez 2, Whitmore 1, Bryant 1.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.

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