A year ago, Jeremy Lin could only cheer from the bench as his teammates pulled out a 45-42 win over Archbishop Mitty in the CCS Division II championship game.

Lin was forced to wonder what might have been, but he got another chance this year and he didn’t miss this one. His 19 points led the Vikings to a 50-38 victory giving Paly basketball its second straight CCS title and its 20th consecutive win overall.

Exactly one year ago, Lin broke his fibula in a pickup game and missed the finals the next day as well as the rest of the season. The Vikings won their next three games without Lin, but fell short in the NorCal finals against Oak Ridge.

On Friday, with Lin’s leadership, the Vikings were a far more potent team on both sides of the ball.

“He [Lin] gives us a lot of confidence,” said head coach Peter Diepenbrock. “He gets us going.”

Despite a 27-1 record, the top seed and last’s year championship, the Vikings were expected by many to fall to the Monarchs in the rematch.

“We definitely have something to prove,” said senior forward Kheaton Scott. “Even as the top seed, we still need to prove some people wrong.”

The Vikings rely on their six seniors, while the Monarchs have much younger talent. Sophomores Collin Chiverton and Drew Gordon led the Monarchs to a 27-3 record and the West Catholic Athletic League title. Gordon at 6’9” averaged a double-double during the regular season and has already drawn attention from colleges like UCLA and Washington.

The Vikings knew they would have their hands full, but like always, Paly had a game plan going in.

“We put [Cooper] Miller on their best inside guy and [Steven] Brown on their best shooter,” said assistant coach Bob Roehl. “We also need to execute on our help defense.”

Even from the tip-off, in which 6’1" Scott jumped against Gordon, the Monarchs seemed to hold the early advantage going on a 6-0 run to open the game. Lin would not let this chance slip away as he scored seven of the Vikings nine first quarter points, including an off-balance shot at the buzzer.

Despite the obvious size discrepancy, the Vikings managed to dominate the Monarchs on the boards.

"They [Monarchs] are bigger and more athletic," said Diepenbrock. "We knew we had to rebound and we did."

Gordon managed only six points in the half, all of which came after offensive rebounds when the Vikings failed to block him out. Lin, still with a chip on his shoulder, added seven more points in the second quarter.

In the two earlier playoff games, the Vikings were virtually tied going into halftime. In both instances, the Vikings picked it up in the second half and won by a comfortable margin. In the final, Paly entered halftime with a six-point lead.

“The lead gave us more confidence to go out and prove to everyone why we are the number one seed,” said senior Kevin Trimble.

Editor-in-Chief Doreen Bloch contributed to this article.