The Palo Alto boys’ freshman basketball team (5-2) pulled away from Pinewood School in the final minutes of its home game on Monday, Dec. 14 for a 53-41 victory.
A 19-point effort from freshman Michael Strong led the Vikings in the game. A late technical foul by Pinewood allowed Paly to secure the win.
The game was a sloppy match, as it was littered with dangerous passes, missed rebounds and poor help defense.
“We had problems boxing out and rebounding,” Paly freshman coach Scott Bensen said.
Rebounding was a key flaw in Paly’s defense as Pinewood gained plenty of points in the paint.
The Vikings were able to overcome the the poor rebounding and defense. However Pinewood Coach Will Roan felt his team could have won.
“We gave it away,” Roan said. “It was like a bad movie. The beginning and middle were good, [but] the ending sucked.”
In the end, Paly’s aggressive three-point shooting was effective in stopping Pinewood’s comeback. When Strong hit an undefended transition three-pointer, it was evident that the Vikings had the advantage.
From tip-off Paly held a lead and ended the first quarter, 14-7. The Vikings continued their offensive dominance in the second quarter and third quarters as they never fell behind. However, Pinewood captured the momentum at the end of the third quarter after a Pinewood guard was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer, allowing him to make three foul shots to end the quarter.
Pinewood threatened by being as close as three points in the fourth quarter and they almost took all the momentum when Palo Alto’s Billy Rudiger had his errant pass stolen in the back court with 2:30 left in the fourth. However, Pinewood missed the three point attempt off the steal.
Pinewood displayed a full court press defense with mixed results throughout the game, but it became an important factor to Pinewood’s late game resurgence.
Paly showed the ability to make big plays when it counted. With 47.5 seconds remaining in the final quarter, a Palo Alto player was fouled and went to the free throw line with Paly holding a slim lead, 45-41. On Paly’s next possession, Kenny Jones threw baseball lob to Strong for a layup and an the foul making it a three point play with the added on free-throw.
One of Pinewood’s players was then issued an intentional foul when he fouled a Paly player in an attempt to prolong the game. This resulted in a technical foul when the reaction of the Pinewood player was deemed inappropriate by the official. This series of events gave the Vikings an opportunity to ice the game with three free throws.
Benson was happy with the close win.
“We played excellent,” Benson said. “They brought it back, they came close but we shut them down when it counted.”
Roan was disappointed with the final plays of the game and the official’s call on the technical foul.
“It was tough,” Roan said. “At least there was one good ref here.”
Roan did not like how his player seemed to be penalized for his emotions, which influenced the game’s ending.
“As a 15-year-old, you’ve got to learn from mistakes,” Roan said.
Strong was content with his performance.
“I think I played alright,” Strong said. “The team played great, it was a team win. [Our goal is] to win every game.”