Palo Alto and Gunn High School students filled the stands to watch the Vikings (10-5) clinch a narrow 54-52 victory over the Titans (7-7) Saturday night at Gunn High School.
The final quarter came down to the last minute. With a 2-point lead, Viking junior Ben Laris scored from the perimeter, but Titan guard Isaac Romero answered right back with another three-pointer. Viking junior power forward Aadi Tripathi raced across the court to score a layup on the counter. The Titans hit a buzzer beater three-pointer, but it wasn’t enough to win. The game ended 54-52 for the Vikings.
Laris said he was looking for an opportunity to shoot a three-pointer the entire game.
“Throughout the whole game, they really didn’t let me catch the ball,” Laris said. “They were kind of face guarding me, so my plan was to get others involved and screen for other people. When I saw an opening like that, I just took advantage of it and let it fly.”
According to Viking head coach Jeff LaMere, both teams are familiar with each other.
“It’s a really neat rivalry because they’re in the same community, they’re in the same town and in the offseason, they’re playing pickup games against each other,” LaMere said. “So to be able to come in here and to get a win like that against a really good opponent, I just feel really happy for our guys.”
The Titans started off strong with Titan guard Keiondre Warfield scoring a layup on the counterattack, and Titan senior Jalen Wong draining two consecutive three-pointers. Viking junior Rocco Smith and senior Jake Wang responded with drives and layups, but it wasn’t enough to suppress the Titans’ early lead. The first quarter ended 10-16.
Titan junior Kostya Antonov said the Titans stuck to their game plan.
“We had pretty much the same strategy the entire game,” Antonov said. “Our goal was to kind of wear down the team [Vikings] by the fourth quarter with the pressing, and it worked for us. The entire game was close.”
In the second quarter, Viking senior Kevin O’Brien scored back-to-back layups. Wang threw deep passes that caught the Titan defenses off guard, allowing for easy layups from junior Aiden Ong and sophomore Isaac Wong. Additionally, the Vikings scored 3 three-pointers this quarter, giving the Vikings the 28-27 lead by halftime.
According to LaMere, the Vikings changed their mentality during the game.
“On the offensive end, they were taking the ball to the basket, and we weren’t providing resistance,” LaMere said. “So we called a timeout, and we talked about needing to play get tougher, and we adjusted as it went on.”
Laris and Smith kicked off the second quarter scoring a three-pointer each, while the rest of the quarter was dominated by fouls on both sides. The Vikings struggled at the free-throw line, but they restricted Titan offenses and built up their lead to 41-36 by the end of the third quarter.
According to LaMere, he is proud of the team’s mental strength.
“I’m proud of our toughness and I’m proud of our resilience, and we’re certainly going to need that in the next two games because Milpitas is the best team in our league,” LaMere said.
The Vikings will play the Milpitas Trojans (13-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home.
