Despite their visitor status in hostile territory, the Paly girls’ varsity basketball team stuck to their tried and true skills to secure a 40-32 win over cross-town arch-rival Gunn during Friday’s quad night at Gunn High School. The JV girls’ team as well as the varsity boys also triumphed over the home teams. Crammed bleachers on both sides of the gym barely contained a pulsing crowd encouraged by hardcore pockets of red and green fans.

"The crowd got into it, and got me pumped up and got us going fast," freshman guard/forward Rachael Pecota said. "They’ll [supporters of the opposing team] say things that may intimidate you, but you just have to play through it."

Pecota led Paly with 13 points, the second highest individual points scored.

The first quarter began at a moderate pace, setting the tone for the rest of the game. Paly led early, bolstered by a half-court driving layup by senior point Ranecia Fields and a dramatic three pointer from junior guard/forward Katie Barich at the shot-clock buzzer. Gunn managed a basket and one of two free throws, and the quarter finished 11-3 for the Vikings.

Paly gained even more momentum in the second quarter as the Vikes continued to dominate. Gunn started the quarter with two field goals in quick succession but was unable to move on throughout the period. Fields retaliated with a three-point shot and scored a free throw from the foul that resulted when she followed up with another strong layup. Senior guard Melody Gaal sunk a pair of free throws, and Fields and Pecota broke through clumps of defenders to secure two more baskets and end the half, 23-7.

"I thought in our first half we played great defense, played great, [had a lot of] energy and we played our game," Paly head coach Scott Peters said. "The second half, they [Gunn] changed to a man [to man] defense and our offense didn’t do very well. I think part of that was my fault as a coach in that I did some changes for offense, and we’re just not running it correctly. But the girls played through it."

The Titans began to recoup their losses as the second half progressed. Gunn held Paly to six points in the third quarter while making eight of their own, six of which were scored by freshman Jasmine Evans who had the highest individual score with 18 points in all. The third quarter ended 15-29 with Paly still comfortably ahead but facing a stronger Titan force.

"In the fourth quarter we started getting together," Gunn sophomore Ilana Cartun said. "If we had played like that the whole game, we would have won."

Paly began the first quarter strongly with an under-the-basket shot by Gaal thanks to an assist from Fields, but accumulated a number of fouls, allowing Gunn six points from free throws. Pecota got off an impressive hook shot and basket from the side within a minute of each other, seperated by a field goal from Gunn.

"We didn’t ‘step on their necks’ like we were supposed to, but overall we did okay," Fields said.

Various Titans scored, one after the other, as the Vikes traded points and turnovers up to the very end of the game, which finished with a final basket for Gunn at the buzzer.

"Our defense wasn’t as intense and we didn’t rotate as well as we did in the first half, so they hurt us a little bit there, but we pulled out the victory," Peters said. "It was a fun game."

There will be no love lost between Paly and Santa Clara during their 7 p.m. match scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 14 at home in the big gym, but the Vikes are especially looking forward to 6:15 p.m. next Friday, Feb. 17 when the girls will face off against Wilcox for the league championship in their last regular game of the season. The home quad night is also Senior Night.

"The last game of the year, Senior Night… [I] can’t wait," Fields said.

Reporters Emily Schickli, Carissa Caryotakis and Jennifer Audet contributed to this article.