Five Takeaways: Damien vs. Fountain Valley

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WHITTIER — Damien and Fountain Valley faced off Saturday night in the championship game of the California high school Tournament and both teams brought a new-look roster to the floor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the Spartans and coach Mike LeDuc, they have a younger and more inexperienced team than we're used to. Damien features only one senior in its starting lineup while three of the main contributors are two sophomores and one freshman. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fountain Valley has a new coach and a host of new faces on its roster, but returning starter [player_tooltip player_id='994928' first='JJ' last='Gray'] has proven to be good enough to keep the Barons competitive despite the big roster turnover.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Damien rode a dominant first half effort to defeat Fountain Valley, 58-48, to win the Cal High Tournament championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Damien center [player_tooltip player_id='1630667' first='Nate' last='Garcia'] improving fast</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If you told me a year ago to this date that Damien sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1630667' first='Nate' last='Garcia']</strong> would thoroughly dominate a game from start to finish I wouldn't have believed you. The 6-foot-11, 260-plus pounder has made huge strides in his game over the last 12 months and his double-double average on the season is enough evidence to prove that. Garcia has been thrust into a starting role with [player_tooltip player_id='1434419' first='Jimmy' last='Oladokun'] transferring to Sierra Canyon prior to the season and Big Nate is flat out producing. Garcia scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds in the Spartans' championship win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Garner among the best freshmen in SoCal</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eli Garner</strong> has the potential to be Damien's next big time perimeter scorer. At 6-feet-4 with a smooth jump shot and high basketball IQ, the freshman is the exact type of player that has thrived at Damien under coach Mike LeDuc. Garner possesses an effortless release on his jumper, deep range off the catch, the ability to stop and pop the mid-range jumper and can do it all within the flow of an offense and without forcing bad shots. Garner finished with 10 points in the win and that's a modest number for him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Brown is Damien's defensive specialist</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Elijah Brown</strong> is in his third varsity season and has already shown his value on the defensive end for the 12-2 Spartans. The 6-foot-4 senior is a high motor and high energy guy who usually draws the assignment of defending the opponents best offensive player. Brown is disruptive on the ball with his ability to apply pressure and keep ball handlers in front of him and is a guy who is willing to sacrifice his body to take charges or dive on the floor for a loose ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>[player_tooltip player_id='994928' first='JJ' last='Gray'] thriving in enhanced role</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Many in Southern California thought that once Fountain Valley saw its coaching change and a couple of players jetted out of the program that Gray, the team's top returner, would follow suit and find a new home, but the senior decided to play out his senior year with the Barons and its looking like it is paying off. The 6-foot-6 combo guard has as big of a role as ever and the team's wins are a direct outcome of his production and performance. Gray has notched a couple of near triple-doubles on the season and finished with an impressive 18-point, 7-rebound, 5-assist line in Fountain Valley's loss to Damien. You can clearly see the transformation Gray has made from complementary player to go-to guy who is responsible for his team's success.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Barons have some young pieces to build around</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The key with keeping a public school program relevant is to harbor and develop young talent to be ready to take over when it is their time. Fountain Valley has a couple of solid pieces in the sophomore class who already have major roles as underclassmen. Devin Payne is a 6-foot point guard who plays with good pace, plays hard on both ends of the floor and showed some flashes of good transition playmaking and classmate Troy Leach is a knockdown shooter and hard-nosed defender.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->