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Warriors fourth in boys basketball standings

A 5-5 record in Valley League play gave Fallbrook High School's boys basketball team fourth place in the final league standings.

The Warriors had an overall regular-season record of 8-18. The May 29 CIF playoff seeding and selection meeting provided Fallbrook with the 10th seed in the Division IV playoffs.

"Extremely happy," said Fallbrook coach Moe Golshani.

Ramona won the Valley League championship and posted a 9-1 record in league play. Mount Carmel was second in the standings with an 8-2 mark. Escondido had the third-place record of 6-4.

Escondido split the Cougars' games with Fallbrook. The Warriors' 61-58 home triumph May 21 was Fallbrook's first win over Escondido since the Warriors joined the Valley League for the 2014-15 season. "We just played extremely well that day," Golshani said.

Fallbrook's previous victory over Escondido was in a tournament game on December 29, 2011. Escondido won the 2019-20 Valley League championship with a 10-0 league record, and the Cougars were also 10-0 in 2018-19. The 2019-20 Warriors were also 5-5 and fourth in the final league standings.

"Despite the way we started the season, we competed in league just like last year's team," Golshani said.

The Warriors lost their first 10 games of 2020-21 and took a 5-17 overall record along with a 2-4 league mark into the May 21 matchup with Escondido.

Fallbrook had an 8-8 overall regular-season record this season when junior Charlie Stallings played, and Stallings had 24 points and 15 rebounds consisting of 13 defensive and two offensive boards May 21. The contributions of sophomore Marcus Washington included 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Yoni Villagran, who a week later would be honored during Senior Night ceremonies along with Jewon Williams, scored 10 points while sophomore Reese Holmes provided eight points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

The May 22 rematch on the Cougars' court was a 74-42 Escondido victory, but Fallbrook closed out league and regular-season play with two wins over Valley Center. The May 27 game in Valley Center was a 71-56 Fallbrook triumph. The Warriors' scoring was led by junior Mitchell Baker, who had 19 points. Stallings recorded 15 points, 15 rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. Villagran had 12 points and five assists. Washington scored eight points and led the team with five deflections. Holmes contributed five points and 10 rebounds.

The score of Fallbrook's May 28 Senior Night victory over Valley Center was 64-43. Villagran's final regular-season high school game included nine points, five assists, four rebounds, four deflections, and two steals. Williams closed out his regular-season high school career with six points, three steals, three deflections, and a rebound. Stallings had 24 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, six blocks, five steals, and four deflections. As a team, the Warriors recorded 38 rebounds, 23 steals, 20 deflections, and 10 blocks.

"We found what works, and the kids have been very good at executing it on the floor," Golshani said.

"We finally know our weaknesses and our strengths," Golshani said. "Our execution has been a lot better."

Golshani noted that changing the Warriors' scheme contributed to that. "Now we know the kids better," he said.

For the regular season, Stallings led the entire state with an average of 14.5 rebounds per game. "Because he controls the glass, we don't give up as many offensive rebounds," Golshani said.

Fallbrook was in Division V for the 2019-20 season and had the top seed in the Division V playoffs. The promotion to a higher division lowered Fallbrook's seed this year, but the Warriors still made the postseason.

"I'm happy considering how we started this season," Golshani said. "I'm extremely thankful. I'm excited for our team. They've trusted us as coaches, and we've been able to implement certain things."

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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