The Palo Alto girls’ basketball team (8-8, 3-4) broke a four-game losing streak with a dominating 62-52 victory over Saratoga High School on Jan. 29.
The girls came out strong in the first quarter and built a commanding 19-4 lead, dominating the court with a promising lead of 19-4.
“In the first quarter, we did really well,” junior forward Katerina Peterson said, who led the team with 11 points. “Everyone was boxing out and going after every rebound.”
The Viking defense was impenetrable early in the game as Saratoga struggled to find opportunities to score.
“In the first quarter we were trying to play tough defense, but smart defense,” senior co-captain guard Victoria Shih said. “We did very well on transitioning and we got the ball up and finished strong.”
Head coach Scott Peters was satisfied with the girls’ performance and encouraged them to keep up the good work.
“I think we played well,” Peters said. “Every team in our league is tough; so to get a victory, you have to do some things right. We played hard and we played smart and took care of business.”
The Vikings kept up their intensity in the second quarter and racked up the points. At the half, the girls were up 25-6. Struggling to keep up, Saratoga rallied towards the end of the quarter to make the score, 30-19.
“We just need to get ready to come out and shoot and score,” junior point guard Mariah Philips said. “Hopefully our team will come out alive.”
Saratoga stepped up its game in the third quarter and came out strong. The Vikings’ confidence was strengthened by loud encouragement from parents and cheerleaders. The Vikings defended their home court with a strong zone defense, and extended their lead with the score 43-35 at the end of the third quarter.
“We managed to play very solid defense,” Philips said. “We came out in a zone [defense] which I don’t think they were expecting because we’ve been playing mostly man [defense] so I think they were mostly surprised by that [the zone defense].”
Saratoga rallied in the final quarter and with a couple of minutes left on the clock, the two teams were only six points apart, 58-52, with the Vikings in the lead. Both teams felt the pressure, which resulted in multiple fouls for both teams. As Saratoga pushed for a last attempt to overtake the Vikings, Paly pulled away to win, 62-52.
“As a team, everybody was doing their job,” co-captain Shih said. “We played a really fast paced game and got the ball up really quickly and basically out ran the other team.”
After training hard and emphasizing defense, the girls are now working to improve on their offense and decrease their number of fouls per game.
“We have a tendency to foul just because we’re trying to play so hard,” Peters said. “But now we’re trying to learn how to play hard but in control. We got to trust in our offense and take good shots.”
The Vikings will be meeting their cross-town rival, Gunn High School at 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 5. Despite a bitter defeat in their last encounter at home, the Vikings are ready to take their revenge.
“I think one of the issues we had when we last time played Gunn was that we were too fired up,” Peters said. “We just need to come out, be calm and play our game and just get into a transition game to get some easy points.”
With the team’s perseverance and confidence, the Vikings hope for a successful future.
“If we came out the way we did to night for the rest of the season we’re going to do very well,” Shih said.
Paly’s next home game will be against Mountain View at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
The girls came out strong in the first quarter and built a commanding 19-4 lead, dominating the court with a promising lead of 19-4.
“In the first quarter, we did really well,” junior forward Katerina Peterson said, who led the team with 11 points. “Everyone was boxing out and going after every rebound.”
The Viking defense was impenetrable early in the game as Saratoga struggled to find opportunities to score.
“In the first quarter we were trying to play tough defense, but smart defense,” senior co-captain guard Victoria Shih said. “We did very well on transitioning and we got the ball up and finished strong.”
Head coach Scott Peters was satisfied with the girls’ performance and encouraged them to keep up the good work.
“I think we played well,” Peters said. “Every team in our league is tough; so to get a victory, you have to do some things right. We played hard and we played smart and took care of business.”
The Vikings’ kept up their intensity in the second quarter and racked up the points. With for minutes left on the clock, at the half the girls were up 25-6. Struggling to keep up, Saratoga rallied towards the end of the quarter to make the score, 30-19.
Saratoga stepped up their game in the thrid quarter and came out strong. The Vikings’ confidence was strengthened by loud encouragement from parents and cheerleaders. The Vikings’ defended their home court with a strong zone defense,and extended their lead with the score 43-35 at the end of the third quarter.
“We managed to play very solid defense,” Philips said. “We came out in a zone [defense] which I don’t think they were expecting because we’ve been playing mostly man [defense] so I think they were mostly surprised by that[the zone defense].”
Saratoga rallied in the final quarter and with a couple of minutes left on the clock, the two teams were only six points apart, 58-52, with the Vikings in the lead. Both teams felt the pressure, which resulted in multiple fouls for both teams. As Saratoga pushed for a last attempt to overtake the Vikings, the Paly pulled away to win, 62-52.
“As a team, everybody was doing their job,” co-captain Shih said. “We played a really fast paced game and got the ball up really quickly and basically out ran the other team.”
After training hard and emphasizing defense, the girls are now working to improve on their offense and decrease their number of fouls per game.
“We have a tendency to foul just because we’re trying to play so hard,” Peters said. “But now we’re trying to learn how to play hard but in control. We got to trust in our offense and take good shots.”
Next Friday, at 6:15 p.m., the Vikings will be meet their cross-town rival, Gunn High School. Despite a bitter defeat in their last encounter at home, the Vikings are ready to take their revenge.
With the team’s perseverance and confidence, the Vikings hope for a successful future.
“If we came out the way we did to night for the rest of the season we’re going to do very well,” Shih said.