Warrior girls win first two league basketball games

After the first week of Valley League girls basketball games Fallbrook High School was the only team with two league wins and no losses.

Because San Pasqual had a bye Jan. 19, the Golden Eagles also finished the week undefeated after their Jan. 17 victory in Ramona, which shared last year's league championship with Fallbrook. Fallbrook victories Jan. 17 at Escondido and Jan. 19 at home against Valley Center placed the Warriors half a game ahead of San Pasqual.

"They're playing hard," said Fallbrook coach Joe Barrios. "They're tough. And when they put it together they're really hard to beat."

The Warriors preceded league play with losses Jan. 5 at Vista and Jan. 12 at home against Del Norte, so Fallbrook took a 6-7 record into league competition. "We played a lot of really tough teams," Barrios said.

That gave Barrios an opportunity to see how his players reacted to adverse situations, and he was happy with the results. "They've just been playing harder and harder," he said.

The Valley League currently has five teams, so one school has a bye while the other four schools have league contests. Valley Center had the bye Jan. 17 when San Pasqual obtained a 53-49 victory at Ramona and Fallbrook won a 67-26 contest in Escondido.

"They worked great together," Barrios said. "Just a great team effort. That's as good as they've played together, just working together. Really impressed."

Escondido had a six-point lead early in the game. "We started off really slow," Barrios said. "We just came out flat."

The turnaround not only gave Fallbrook a win for league standings purposes but also indicated an ability of the Warriors' players to make adjustments during the game. "We just responded and we started to press," Barrios said. "They just did a great job of just focusing and playing hard."

None of Fallbrook's 2016-17 starters are on this year's team which consists of three seniors, two juniors, and seven sophomores. "It's such a young group," Barrios said.

Fallbrook took a half-game lead over San Pasqual when the Golden Eagles had the Jan. 19 bye and the Warriors defeated Valley Center in a 36-25 contest.

"We didn't play as focused. We didn't play as well," Barrios said.

Barrios credits the Jaguars' defense for limiting Fallbrook's offensive productivity. "They had a tough zone," he said.

The victory showed Barrios and his players that they can prevail in more competitive games as well as when the Warriors dominate. "Sometimes winning those tough games when you just don't have your good stuff is just as important," Barrios said. "It's nice to gut a tough one out."

The power rankings which are the primary factor in determining CIF playoff berths ranked Fallbrook eighth among Division II schools following the Warriors' win over Valley Center.

The Valley League champion is guaranteed at least one CIF playoff home game. The Warriors' final regular-season home game will be contested Feb. 2 when Escondido visits Fallbrook, and the Warriors will travel to Valley Center Feb. 7, Ramona Feb. 9, and San Pasqual Feb. 14 to close out league and regular-season play.

"It's really going to be a dogfight," Barrios said.