Unhampered by the bad luck sometimes associated with Friday the 13th, the varsity Lady Vikes soundly defeated visiting Milpitas, 50-43, during Paly’s second 2006 basketball quad night. Friday’s victory marked the 11th straight win for the Vikings (15-3), who are undefeated after three games of league play.

“[The game] went well,” senior guard/forward Megan Grant said. “We have some things to work on, like turnovers. We had too many in the second and third quarters. We could also work on more patience at offense.”

The Vikings began the game energetically, scoring 11 points in the first four minutes before the Trojans struck back to end the quarter 13-8, with half of their points from free throws.

Milpitas began to challenge Paly as the second quarter progressed, as the teams swapped baskets between some extreme back-and-forth frenzies.

“It could’ve been better,” senior co-captain and guard/point Bre Clay said. “We need to work on defense and slowing it down. We kept our composure once they came back, never gave up and fought back as a team.”

Paly had some difficulty in stopping sophomore Trojan post Luisa Musika, who scored a season-high 22 points to beat Clay, the second-highest scorer of the game, with 19 points to her name.

The Vikes didn’t suffer from a lack of showmanship, however, as evidenced by a flawless one-handed underhand layup by freshman forward Rachael Pecota, and a backwards shot by Clay in the third quarter that received an earsplitting roar from fans in the packed gym.

Milpitas attacked with a furor in the third quarter, seemingly catching the Vikings off guard as the Trojans scored 16 points to Paly’s 10. The Vikes bounced back quickly in the fourth, however, and ended the game 50-43.

“I was proud that the girls stayed together and pulled out a victory,” head coach Scott Peters said. “We need to work on taking the ball and running offense under pressure — that’s what good teams do. If we keep improving in that regard, I think we’ll be a better team.”

This was the second close game of the week for Paly, who as visitors narrowly beat second-in-league-tied Wilcox, 40-39, last Tuesday. The girls also recently won the Topaz Division in the West Coast Jamboree, going 41-35 in the championship game against Fremont’s American Eagles. Senior team co-captain Melody Gaal was named Tournament MVP, and fellow captain senior Ranecia Fields placed on the All-Tournament Team.

The Vikes will take on Gunn during Paly’s next quad night on Friday, Jan. 20, at 6:15 p.m. The junior varsity (JV) girls play at 3 p.m., followed by JV boys at 4:30 p.m., varsity girls, and varsity boys at 7:45 p.m.