Paly is down, 20—30, against Oak Ridge High School at the end of the first half of the Northern California Division II state finals.
The Oak Ridge Trojans were quick to establish offensive control, coming out with four unanswered points. Senior forward Brian Baskauskas, however, came back with two points of his own, followed by assists to senior forward Greg Walder and junior guard Brad Lehman, who each sunk a basket.
Unfortunately for the Vikes, whose tallest players, Baskauskas and Walder, both stand at 6’6”, the Trojans’ team possesses notable height. Oak Ridge junior center Ryan Anderson dominates the court at 6’9”, while senior center/ forward Jacob Kernodle and junior center/ forward Andrew Browning stand at 6’7”. With an obvious height disadvantage, the Vikings have had trouble contesting the Trojans’ rebounds. Trojan senior guard Hiram Thomson has made numerous steals throughout the first half, as well as contributing 12 points on offense.
With 4:09 on the clock, the Vikings were still down 7—12 and head coach Peter Diepenbrock called a timeout. After the timeout, Paly’s defense struggled to slow down Oak Ridge’s offense and by the end of the quarter, the Trojans lead the Vikings, 7—18.
In the second quarter, the Vikings were able to step up their offense and outscored the Trojans, 13—12. These much-needed points, however, did not make up for the first quarter deficit.
The second quarter opened up with an assist from Lehman to Baskauskas for two points. Senior forward Martin Mouton made a steal on the Trojan’s next possession and ran the ball down the court with junior forward Steven Brown. Mouton then hit Brown under the basket for a two-point lay-up.
With momentum shifting in favor of the Vikings, junior forward Cooper Miller made an assist to Baskauskas who sunk a three-pointer. On the next Viking possession, Baskauskas drove again and put up three more points.
As the second quarter came to and end, the Vikings were still unable to gain control of the game. Baskauskas has been the Vikings lead scorer, racking up nine points in the half, followed by Lehman with three. For the Trojans, Thomson leads with 12 points, followed by senior guard Kevin James with six.