Led by junior guard Jeremy Lin who tied his season high in assists and had a double-double, the 6-0 Vikings’ varsity basketball team stomped the Fremont Firebirds, 78-60, bringing Palo Alto’s conference record to 7-0.
Six-foot-six-inch Firebird forward senior Dan Bergeron was on Paly Head Coach Peter Diepenbrock’s mind before and during the game. "He can shoot well, and he can drive," Diepenbrock said. "In his last game he only had five points, and this game he is going to want to score. We are going to keep a close eye on him."
Senior forward Brian Baskauskas guarded Bergeron throughout most of the game, and, with help from other teammates, held Bergeron to only 16 points. "It is always a fun challenge to guard such a good player," Baskauskas said.
Bergeron also had his hands full guarding Baskauskas, who scored 25 points in the game.
"Paly is a great team," Bergeron said. When Lin and Baskauskas get on the floor, they click… They are two of the best in the area."
In the first quarter, the teams stayed pretty close. After only two minutes the Vikings led 10-3, however three three-point shots by guard senior Chris Gokey brought the Firebirds back in the game, and ended the quarter, 22-17.
Lin hit a three-pointer to start the second quarter and on the Firebirds’ ensuing drive, Baskauskas received his second personal foul. After the next play, in which Baskauskas made an extremely athletic spin move to the basket, Diepenbrock took Baskauskas out of the game. When Baskauskas came back into the game only a couple of minutes later, he committed his third personal foul.
In the last two minutes of the half, Lin raked up five points and two assists to raise Paly’s lead to 12 by the half, with the score 38-26.
"They are a good outside shooting team, but we slowed them down in the second quarter," Diepenbrock said at halftime. "We need to keep doing more of the same."
Fremont Head Coach Miguel Castillo had few words at the half, saying, "We aren’t going to change anything, we are just going to play."
The score fluctuated in the second half, but the most the Firebirds worked their deficit to was 10 points. Gokey drained six three-pointers, but it wasn’t enough to slow down the Viking offense. Lin only scored two points in the half for a total of 13, but pushed his number of assists to 14 to conclude the night with a double-double.
"My teammates did a great job getting open, all I had to do was get them the ball," Lin said.
The Vikings will take on rival Gunn High School, who Paly beat earlier in the season, 65-37, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Gunn.