Boys Basketball: Armstrong, Gatlin lead way Fountain Valley duo shares MVP honors in Sunset League after leading Barons to league championship. April 03, 2013|By Mike Sciacca I think the biggest reason for our turnaround, is that the players believed in us as coaches and wanted to turn the program around, Holmes said. You must have players to win, but those players need to be on the same page as far as team goals, program goals, and direction of the program. The players embraced our staff and what we were all about. This year, all of the things that this senior-laden grouped learned, came together. They had the skill to win it and put in the work to win it. Holmes praised his coaching staff which included Andrew Meyer (sixth all-time assists leader at Marina) and Eric Edmunds (all-league, All-CIF at Fountain Valley) in his first two years. This year, Garrett James, a three-time all-league, and All-CIF player at Marina, Billy Thompson, an All-Southwestern League and All-CIF player at Temecula Valley, Aren Baghdassarian, a member of Marinas 2004 CIF finalist and state playoff team when Holmes coached at Marina, and Brendan Holmes, a three-time all-league, and All-CIF player at Marina, and son of Roger Holmes, joined the Barons staff this year. Advertisement These guys were all very accomplished players and are even better coaches, Roger Holmes said. I have been incredibly lucky to have people of this caliber surround the players in my programs. I just cant say enough about how hard the members of my staff have worked in getting this program turned around. The individual player development that has taken place over the last three years has been phenomenal. The players were ready and willing to put in the time and effort and it paid off. To the kids credit, they bought into what we wanted to do when we came in during the spring of 2010, said Meyer who in addition to assisting the varsity team for two years, also served as the Barons junior varsity coach. It wasnt an overnight success but a steady work ethic that allowed these guys to improve and achieve what they did this year. Josh [Armstrong] and Jackson [Gatlin] are examples of the growth of the program. With Josh, it was never a question of his talent, but from the time from the end of his sophomore year, going into the summer of his junior year, he made big-time strides. He was a workaholic in the gym. For Jackson, the potential was there and he went on to have a great year this year. It was pretty cool to see both these guys blossom. Holmes and the Barons staff will lose a big chunk of this years roster to graduation in June. Theres more work to be done, he said. We have a huge challenge ahead of us next year with the loss of eight of 11 varsity players, Holmes said. We will go from having a senior dominated lineup, to one that is young and inexperienced. We have some very talented young players — our freshman won the Sunset League and 23 games this year, and the returners that we do have, are anxious to make their mark. — 2013 All-Sunset League Boys Basketball Team MVPs: Josh Armstrong, Fountain Valley; Jackson Gatlin, Fountain Valley First Team: Brae Ivey, Edison; Andrew TenBrink, Huntington Beach; Wes Mitter, Los Alamitos; Khalid Washington, Los Alamitos; Nic Sargeant, Newport Harbor. Second Team: Derek Molina, Edison; AJ Garrity, Edison; Joey Petersen, Fountain Valley; Casey Hayes, Marina; Hayden Winks, Marina; Kevin Rakestraw, Newport Harbor; Zack Wade, Newport Harbor. michael.sciacca@latimes Twitter: @MikeSciacca articles.hbindependent/2013-04-03/sports/tn-hbi-0404-sunset-league-boys-basketball-team-20130403_1_jackson-gatlin-guard-josh-armstrong-sunset-league/2
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 01:07:14 +0000
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