About 12 weeks ago, the Paly football team allowed seven first half points to the Milpitas Trojans in a 40-7 rout. On Tuesday night, the Paly boys’ basketball team bested their gridiron counterparts, allowing a meager five points to the Trojans in the first half. The score Tuesday night had the Vikings basketball team doubling the Trojans 44-22, but it wasn’t even that close.

The Vikings’ (12-6, 5-1 league) fourth straight win was decided by the end of first quarter with the Vikings staking a 19-2 lead.

The Trojans, like most teams, have not beaten the Vikings in over two years, and would have like nothing better than taking down the defending state champs. The last time the Trojans came to Paly, they were handed a 45-19 beat down. On Tuesday night the Vikings reminded everyone that on their home court, they are close to unbeatable, having not lost at home in over three years.

"We feel comfortable here and the atmosphere throws other teams off their game," head coach Peter Diepenbrock said.

The Vikings jumped out to an early lead with juniors Dom Powell and Mike Scott and senior Christian Bakken leading the way. Paly scored the first 13 points, but with 2:25 left in the first the Trojans broke the shutout. The Vikings kept firing, shooting 7 of 13 during the quarter and hitting five free throws.

In the second quarter, the Vikings scored only eight points, but held the Trojans to just three points, putting the halftime score at 27-5. By halftime, the Vikings had three players with more individual points than the entire Trojan team. Scott and Powell each had six and Bakken had 11 at the half.

By the end of the third quarter, most of the Viking starters were on the bench and the Trojans began to score on the Viking bench. By the end of the third, the score was 40-14. The fourth quarter was uneventful with the final score ending at 44-22.

As a team the Vikings shot close to 50 percent while the Trojans shot 22 percent and 0-5 from the free throw line. Bakken led all scorers with 15 points.

The few Vikings fans at the game witnessed what could be described as a massacre, an almost unfair domination of a team having a very bad day. Tuesday’s loss was not the way that head coach Steve Cain wanted to end his final visit to Paly as coach of the Trojans. Cain will retire after this season, his 38th year of coaching, having coached agaisnt six Paly coaches in his tenure.

On Tuesday, a relentless Vikings defense and abysmal Trojan shooting turned a potential upset into a joke, a far cry from the tense match-up against Gunn last Friday.

Last Friday, the Vikings went into hostile territory to face rival Gunn for first place in the De Anza division. With the Titan’s star Peter Jordan still not at 100 percent, the Vikings pulled out a critical victory, 56-46, putting Paly in sole possession of first place.

The Vikings are now on a four game winning streak after going the first 14 games without winning more than two in a row. As the Vikings continue to gel as a team, consistency will become enormously important especially in the post season.

The Vikings will look to make it five straight when they head to Cupertino on Friday, Jan. 26. The Pioneers (17-4, 4-2) fell to the Vikings 51-37 on Jan. 5, but were within half a game of first place before Tuesday. The Vikings will return home next Tuesday, Jan. 30, to play Los Gatos. The Wildcats are the only team to beat the Vikings thus far in league play, but that was on the road and when the Wildcats come to Paly, it’s a whole new ballgame.

"There’s something about this place," Bakken said. "Maybe it’s the fans or the gym, but we feel we can’t lose here."