The Valencia Vikings’ matchup against the Golden Valley Grizzlies was a back-and-forth duel with multiple lead changes and neither team able to pull away.
That is, until the fourth quarter, when the Vikings pulled away for the 74-59 win over the Grizzlies as Valencia’s defense held Golden Valley to just 15 points in the quarter for the victory.
“I’m kind of lost for words. I think the guys, we’ve been through a lot of adversity this season,” Valencia head coach Greg Fontenette said. “Losing Issac Michel-Zavala for the rest of the season really kind of put an earthquake through the program a little bit. Guys got a little shaken up, but we had guys that stepped up into new roles, and they answered the call.”
In the Vikings’ loss to Legacy Christian on Jan. 3, the team lost both Michel-Zavala and Romel McCoy to injury.
Michel-Zavala was ruled out for the rest of the season while McCoy was able to return a week later.
Fontenette added after the win over Golden Valley that with the team losing its star point guard for the rest of the season, he and the coaching staff needed to rework their offense and remotivate the team after losing Michel-Zaval to a freak injury.
“As a coach, you have to find a way to adjust and also understand the emotional impact that it has on your guys,” he said. “It’s not necessarily trying to figure out the X’s and O’s. My priority was just trying to figure out,how do I keep our mentality up going forward rather than sulking in what happened.”
Fontenette called up freshman Josiah McCoy, Romel’s younger brother, from the junior varsity team, in hope to balance out the production that was expected out of Michel-Zavala. And in a must-win game for Valencia, Josiah scored 24 points and led the Vikings in scoring en route to ending the Grizzlies’ unbeaten start to their league season.
“I knew he had a little something in as far as scoring juice, but it was more so he provides length. He provides us a little height, athleticism, and he knows how to keep a guy in front of him,” Fontenette said in response to Josiah’s call up. “And that was the one thing we were losing with Isaac, and that was my focus is how do we kind of replace that defensive loss? And Josiah has stepped up in a big way for us.”
With the win, the Vikings improved to 4-2 in Foothill League play and third in the standings behind the Saugus Centurions, who are one game behind the first-place Golden Valley Grizzlies.
The team is still shaken up after losing Michel-Zavala, but the belief around the program and Fontenette is that the Vikings can still contend for the Foothill League title despite being one man down.
“We’ve been in a lot of tough matchups that acquired a lot of adversity that we had to get through,” Fontenette said. “This is what’s gonna separate a good team from a great team. And they just find a way to just keep fighting.”
The Vikings pick up Foothill League action again Tuesday against the Hawks at Hart High School.
As for Golden Valley, the Grizzlies lose their first Foothill league game of the year and finish the first half 5-1, the team’s best start through six games since the 2009-10 season.
Junior guard Donovan Webb led all Grizzlies in scoring with 17 points and had an all-around performance as he tallied eight assists and two steals.
The Grizzlies will look to bounce back at home against the West Ranch Wildcats on Friday with tip-off scheduled for 6:40 p.m.
After Tuesday night’s games, here are scores from around the Foothill League:
Hart 61, West Ranch 44: The Hawks (13-8, 3-3) defeated the West Ranch Wildcats (6-12, 3-3) and jumped to fourth in the Foothill League standings.
The Wildcats will look to bounce back on Friday against the Grizzlies at Golden Valley while the Hawks match up with the Cowboys at Canyon High School.
Both games tip off at 6:30 p.m.
Canyon 83, Castaic 53: The Cowboys (12-8, 2-4) secured their second Foothill League win of the season over the Coyotes (3-13, 0-6) at Castaic High School.
Senior guard Isaac Yuhico tallied a double-double with 28 points and 13 rebounds and led all Cowboys in scoring.
The Cowboys pick up league action again on Friday against the Hawks at home at 6:30 p.m.
As for Castaic, the Coyotes play the Centurions at Saugus High School with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Photos below from Valencia’s win over Golden Valley:
