Fountain Valley girls’ basketball stands up to challenge from Edison

Fountain Valley’s girls’ basketball team finds itself riding a roller coaster in the Sunset League, the possibilities still numerous for a team that has had its share of ups and downs.

Case in point, the Barons fell just three points shy of being the first team to knock off first-place Los Alamitos in a league game on Tuesday night, but it went for naught.

That left them with an uphill climb to solidify their playoff chances, a hike the Barons seemed to embrace on Thursday to earn a key 44-31 win over Edison on the road.

Senior center Avery Jones had 14 points and 11 rebounds, leading totals in both categories for Fountain Valley (12-10, 3-3 in the Sunset League). Sophomore guard Truley Nguyen played bigger than her size, contributing 12 points, 10 rebounds and a blocked shot.

“I think this game was really important to us,” Jones said. “The win was really important to us. I think we needed a win to boost our confidence after Los Al.”

Those performances were huge on a night Fountain Valley coach Camryn Hamaguchi said her team was competing with five players out of the lineup.

“We’re really lucky to have Truley,” Hamaguchi said. “She’s so athletic. She’s a very smart player. I think she’s like 5-[foot]-3, but yeah, 10 rebounds is insane. Her athleticism takes her very far, and also her hard work and her grit. This is not the first time that she’s gotten 10 rebounds. … She continues to find ways to score, too, as an undersized guard.”

The challenge came in the painted area, territory that Edison (8-12, 1-4) contested vigorously in a hard-fought game. The teams were tied 11-11 after the first quarter, 18-18 at halftime, and Fountain Valley scraped out a 28-26 lead on a mid-range jumper by reserve guard Kailyn Huynh heading into the fourth quarter.

Senior forward Tegan Sjollema dominated the glass with 17 rebounds, adding five assists to her line. Kate McNally added six points, seven rebounds and a block, while Emma Varner also challenged shots to the tune of three blocks. Lexie Reynoso was the Chargers’ leading scorer with 11 points.

Edison has shown itself to be an improved program after winning four games all of last season, including a winless league campaign.

“I think that’s a big key for us in our program is having a good defensive presence,” said first-year Edison coach Savannah Seiler, who played at Orange Coast College before closing out her college career at Montana State University. “I think today we shocked everyone with how aggressive we were off the dribble, off the screens, everything. I think we were there. It starts from, obviously, our guards being really aggressive on the ball.”

“I think it flows down to our posts, as well. Our posts being aggressive down low, getting big boards for us, so I think it’s just a big key for us is just being really defensively aggressive on every single possession.”

Jones shared her thought process on competing for rebounds in a physical game.

“It’s just a matter of jumping up and grabbing the ball, holding it tight, and making sure that no one swats it away, because that definitely happened a lot,” Jones said. “Also, just staying balanced, staying composed, because they’re up in your face. You just got to not let it scare you.”

Sophie Hsieh scored seven points to go with five assists and three steals for Fountain Valley. On an off night offensively, shooting guard Kailey Nishi provided five rebounds and a pair of steals.

“We had a slow start at first,” Nguyen said. “It was kind of sloppy. Coaches at halftime set us aside, reminded ourselves that we’re a better team. We just came out with a lot of energy.”

Sunset League

Fountain Valley 44, Edison 31

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Fountain Valley 11 - 7 - 10 - 16 — 44

Edison 11 - 7 - 8 - 5 — 31

FV — Jones 14, Nguyen 12, Hsieh 7, Huynh 6, Dang 3, Nishi 2.

3-pt. goals — Nguyen 2, Dang 1, Hsieh 1.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.

E — Reynoso 11, McNally 6, Nguyen 4, Varner 4, Chang 2, Leung 2, Sjollema 2.

3-pt. goals — Reynoso 2.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.