With 5:30 left in the game, the boys’ basketball Vikings were down 42-28 and appeared to be heading for a lopsided upset, Friday night.

But with only 10 seconds left, the Vikings were within only one point and had a three-pointer attempt at the buzzer that fell short, ending what would have been a miraculous comeback.

For most of the game, the Cupertino Pioneers flustered the Vikings, causing turnovers and poor shots all night. For over five minutes, the Vikings orchestrated a fantastic comeback that nearly ended in victory. Instead, free throws made the difference, giving the Pioneers a share of first place.

On Jan. 5, the Pioneers (18-4, 5-2 league) came to Paly on a five game winning streak only to leave with a 51-37 loss. On Friday, the Pioneers prevented the Vikings from their own five game surge.

After a roller coaster start to the season, the Vikings (12-7, 5-2) were beginning to hit their stride, taking sole possession of first place in the De Anza division with the 44-22 beat down of Milpitas last Friday. With yesterday’s loss, the Vikings fell back into a tie for first.

The first quarter revealed that both teams would play with a physical, aggressive style and were evenly matched. Though the score at the end of the first quarter was 11-10 in favor of the Pioneers, Cupertino displayed a new and effective tactic on defense. With few pure shooters on the Vikings, and even fewer with three-point range, the Pioneers cleverly focused their defensive effort in the key, where most of the Vikings’ points are scored.

The second quarter was much like the first, with both teams forcing turnovers and playing aggressive defense. The score was tied at 15-15 when the Pioneers hit two quick three-pointers, but the Vikings responded with a 7-0 run to end the half up by one.

For the first half, the Vikings had managed to score mostly off Pioneers turnovers and made many of their own while being double and triple-teamed inside. Junior Dom Powell and Senior Christian Bakken were pressure all night and struggled to find any rhythm.

In the third quarter, the Pioneer offense caught up with their stellar defense, scoring 16 points in the quarter, while holding the Vikings to just five. The Pioneers were the beneficiaries of some lucky bounces and questionable calls, but to their credit, they made good on their opportunities, something the Vikings often could not do.

The Pioneers extended their lead to 42-28 when the Cupertino crowd began chanting "overrated!" to the defending state champs. During a timeout, head coach Peter Diepenbrock seemed to get through to his team and they came out determined to at least make it a game, if not win it.

Powell, drawing double-teams every time, seemingly willed the ball into the basket, scoring three times from the field. His weakness, as with most of the Vikings Friday night, was the free throw line, where he shot 2 of 6 in the final quarter.

With the lead cut to five and less than a minute left, sophomore guard Nick Robinson pulled down an unlikely offensive rebound and spun a circus shot into the hoop, drawing a foul in the process. The free throw completed the three-point-play and cut the lead to just two. After Cupertino missed its free throw, Bakken drew a foul and two shots with a chance to tie the game with 10 seconds left.

Bakken missed his first attempt, the 11th missed free throw attempt of the game for the Vikings, but made the second, cutting the once 14-point lead to just one, 42-41. The Vikings immediately fouled junior guard Brian Ly, hoping to get the ball back with a chance to win the game. Ly stayed cool under pressure, knocking down both with a charity bounce on the second attempt. The two free throws ended a five minute scoring drought for the Pioneers

With 8.7 seconds left, the Vikings could still tie the game and send it into overtime where the suddenly hot Vikings would have an excellent chance at winning. Junior guard Mike Scott drove the length of the court and after two quick passes, found himself with the ball at the top of the arc. The Vikings’ hadn’t made a three all game and Scott’s potential game-tier wasn’t going to be the first.

As the buzzer sounded, the Vikings slowly walked off the court as the Cupertino fans stormed the court, celebrating the upset. The comeback was not meant to be as the Vikings lost a heartbreaker with a final score of 44-41.

"When you shoot 8 of 19 from the free throw line and miss easy lay-ups, it’s hard to pull of a comeback," Diepenbrock said.

Though tense down the stretch, the Pioneers made the proper defensive adjustments and held the Vikings in check. Diepenbrock elected to keep his best athletes on the floor, keeping his best three-point shooters on the bench. With so many Pioneers crashing inside to pressure Bakken and Powell, a kick-out pass to a long-range shooter could have broken the Pioneers’ backs. Despite that, Diepenbrock’s strategy would have worked had the Vikings hit their free throws.

The loss will not sit well with the Vikings, but the late rally showed grit and determination, elements that are essential to great teams. Those few costly mistakes can become reminders of how important the little things are in a close game.

With free throws sure to be stressed during practice, the Vikings look ahead to Tuesday, Jan. 30, when rival Los Gatos come to Paly where the Wildcats (8-12, 1-5) will look to topple the Vikings for the second time this year. The Wildcats handed the Vikings their first league loss this season, a 46-37 affair on Jan. 9 in Los Gatos. The game tips off at 7 p.m.