In a battle for first place in the De Anza League, the Palo Alto High School Vikings (14-2) defeated the Milpitas Trojans (13-3), 44-37, in a tight game decided in the final quarter Wednesday night at Palo Alto High School.
According to Viking head coach Jeff LaMere, the Trojans have a history of being a strong defensive team.
“Their [Trojan] defense is what it has been for the last few years,” LaMere said. “It’s hard to simulate it in practice, and they don’t let you make passes at all. It’s really difficult to run an offense, but we did.”
The game started with solid defense from both ends with Vikings’ senior Jorell Clark only putting up one layup in the first quarter. With the Vikings usually dominating offensively this low-scoring quarter was out of the ordinary. Steals made by senior Gavin Haase restricted Trojan’s offense, giving the Vikings the early 8-6 lead.
Trojan head coach Champ Wrencher said the Trojans planned on using defense to win the match.
“Our preparations always start with defense,” Wrencher said. “Just trying to make sure we take the other team out of anything that they do and make them uncomfortable.”
According to Haase, he was willing to perform aggressive plays to open up more offensive opportunities for the Vikings.
“I tried to make big plays for my team, and do what I have to do if we’re not finding offense,” Haase said.
Wrencher said the Trojans fell behind because they had trouble keeping the ball in play.
“I don’t think our ball handling was really good in certain spots,” Wrencher said. “Especially when we were being aggressive and trying to score. We lost the ball several times, we haven’t done that all season, so it was a little disappointing to see that.”
During the second quarter, Clark weaved past Trojan defenses, hitting multiple layups while drawing fouls for and-one plays. On the defensive end, the Vikings continued to hold up the Trojans with relentless pressure, leading to a score of 23-17.
According to Clark, the Vikings didn’t let up despite the lead.
“We really fought hard throughout the entire game,” Clark said. “We knew that this was going to be a tough game and a game of runs.”
Clark entered the second half strong, scoring two consecutive layups right off the bat. The Trojans responded by capitalizing on the fumbles the Vikings made on offense. Firing away from the three-point line, Trojan senior small forward Jacob Wrencher and senior power forward Isaac Sisay helped the Trojans take a 31-29 lead.
LaMere said the Vikings focused on defense throughout the game.
“Our message was just, ‘hey, keep defending, keep getting rebounds’,” LaMere said. “We thought we could find ways to score because we’re lucky enough to have Jorell, but if we can’t defend, we’re not going to win.”
In the final quarter, the Vikings came out hot with Clark delivering a chain of successful drives and Haase dishing out an assist pass to Viking senior Jeremiah Fung for a quick layup. With a 4-point lead and less than a minute on the clock, the Vikings used the full shot clock on every possession securing their 44-37 victory.
Clark said that the Vikings showed resilience after coming back from a tough third quarter.
“In the third quarter they made a big time run,” Clark said. “We were able to weather the storm and just showed a lot of grit.”
According to Wrencher, the Trojans had the potential to beat the Vikings in the final quarter.
“Don’t let number 12 [Clark] touch the ball if you can, pretty simple,” Wrencher said. “We’re in the situation where if we get quality shots and take care of the ball, we will be alright. But we never did that in the last part of the game.”
With the Vikings putting another win under their belt, Clark said they are one step closer to winning the league.
“We’re looking to win League,” Clark said. “That’s our next goal, and very attainable after beating Milpitas today.”
LaMere said the Vikings’ next match will be another challenge.
“We’ve got a tough one against Los Altos,” LaMere said. “They’ve been missing some players with injuries and so if those guys come back. That certainly changes some things.”
The Vikings are set to play against the Wilcox Chargers (9-4) 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Wilcox High School.
