Paly’s basketball teams won all four games of the first quad night of the year on Friday. The boys’ teams blew out the Fremont Firebirds and the girls’ teams defeated the Milpitas Trojans.

The boys’ varsity team won its second league game of the year, 59-40, as it struggled early on but gained the lead midway through the first quarter and held on to it for the remainder of the game.

The Vikings’ starting lineup struggled out of the gate and only mustered a few points before the second group came in. This group from the bench was exactly what Paly needed, and led the Vikings to a 22-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“There was a group that really got us going,” head coach Andrew Slayton said. “[Junior] Brendon Rider, [junior] Steve Kerr, [sophomore] Max Schmarzo and [senior] Steve Gargiulo, those guys did a really good job coming off the bench. They provided some good energy.”

The starters continued the Viking dominance in the second quarter, finishing off the first half, 40-20.

However, the Vikings faltered in the third quarter and could not keep up the energetic play.

“Our energy was very up and down,” Slayton said. “We had some great spots and some spots that weren’t so good and the third quarter was one of them.”

The Vikings only scored 7 points in the third but still held on to their lead, 47-26. The fourth quarter was more of the same, as the Vikings looked lackadaisical, only scoring 12 points.

“It was very low energy and we weren’t very motivated,” Rider said. “We felt like we had the game in the bag.”

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the student section broke into chants calling for junior Adrian Augmon and senior Frank Wan, the two players who had not yet seen the floor.

“That was pretty cool,” Augmon said. “I couldn’t help but smile.”

Slayton seemed reluctant to put Augmon and Wan in, but after several minutes of cheering from the crowd, he brought the two players off the bench. The student section exploded once Wan and Augmon came in and continued to cheer them on for the rest of the game.

“I thought that it was a very classy gesture made by the Palo Alto students,” Rider said.

The Vikings are now 9-5 and 2-0 in league. Their next game is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Los Altos.

While the boys thoroughly defeated Fremont, the girls also had a solid victory, winning, 50-31, against the visiting Milpitas Trojans.

The Lady Vikes opened the game with a three pointer from senior Taylor Lovely but could not muster up much of anything the rest of the quarter. Still, they were able to end it with an 8-6 lead.

However, Paly exploded in the second quarter for 17 points. Seniors Madison Hoffacker and Olivia Garcia, both of whom led Paly in scoring with 12 points each, got the Lady Vikings rolling with some keys buckets early in the second quarter.

“After losing to Los Gatos on Wednesday, I think we just really wanted to win, and since the first quarter was so tight we wanted to push harder to give ourselves a lead,” junior Lauren Mah said.

The offensive outburst carried the Lady Vikes for the rest of the game. The second half was close as Milpitas’ fullcourt press prevented Paly from scoring at will, but they still matched their 26 first-half points with 24 second-half points.

“I think we played well, and pumped each other up and meshed well as a team and worked collaboratively to bring us the win,” Mah said.

The Lady Vikes are now 3-7 and 1-1 in league. Their next game is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Saratoga.

Both JV teams won their games on Friday afternoon. The JV boys smashed Fremont, 66-20, and the girls narrowly defeated Milpitas, 47-44.