The Palo Alto High School Boys Basketball team (3-0) beat the Silver Creek Raiders (0-3), 71-42 at home on Saturday, a strong display for the Vikings.
While the Viking have won all their matches so far, they need to prepare for league games with more difficult matchups.
According to Viking junior Rocco Smith, the beginning of the season has been easier than the upcoming games.
“We’ve had a few easy games, and the games ahead of us are gonna be more difficult, so we have been training really hard to prepare for the next games,” Smith said.
The Vikings took the lead at the start of the game with a three-pointer from Viking Junior Ben Laris, putting the team ahead, 3-0. The Raiders responded with a layup, but then the Vikings scored another three-pointer from Laris, extending the Vikings’ lead to 6-2. As the Vikings play of their shooters to keep them ahead.
Viking senior Kevin O’Brien made a layup to make the score 8-4. Followed by Laris capitalized on another opportunity, hitting his third three-pointer of the night, as well as drawing a foul and taking a strong start to the game extending their lead to 12-4.
According to Viking Head Coach Jeff Lamere, the team has been playing with lots of energy, but they still need some work.
“I thought we’ve been playing with great energy, playing with great intensity,” Lamere said. “We need to continue to improve, especially we got to be able to execute better … find the hot shooters.”
After another lay-up and three-pointer for Smith, the Raiders went on a six-point run to close the gap to 17-10. Viking junior Daniel Segev responded with a layup. The Vikings continued with this momentum and showcased their perfect passing to extend the lead to 28-14.
The Vikings score another three-pointer from Smith, then the Vikings extended their lead with two layups, 35-17. The Vikings then scored two three-pointers to make the score 41-17. Both teams traded layups over the course of a few minutes, but the Vikings came out on top with O’Brien making a huge three-pointer to make the score 46-19.
According to Segev, the team needed their plays to connect today for the team to perform well.
“A big issue for the team was that we weren’t running plays, and we would freestyle,” Segev said. “Our couch really encouraged us to run organized plays, and today it was definitely the factor that created our big lead in the second quarter.”
The Vikings gave up two layups and two free throws, 48-29. The Vikings responded with a three-pointer, increasing their lead 51-29. The Raiders responded with a three-pointer of their own, 53-32.
According to Segev, the game got shaky, but this didn’t stop the team’s dominance.
“After halftime, the other team went on a run, and there were many times when we miscommunicated and broke down on defense,” Segev said. “But we quickly recovered from this and ended up winning the game by a big margin.”
The Vikings made a layup 55-35, then followed it up with another layup 57-35. The Vikings made two more layups and extended the score to 61-35. A three-pointer against the Vikings, 61-37, is responded by a pass into a layup for the Vikings, 63-38. The Vikings made a deep three-pointer, then a layup by Smith, 68-38. A layup is made against the Vikings, 68-40. And with little time left the Vikings managed to end the game with a solid layup and free throw from O’Brien, and 71-42.
The Vikings are set to play their next game against the Leigh Longhorns at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
