Sophomore guard Stephanie Allen led the Vikings by contributing 17 points as well as six rebounds. Senior point guard Sydney Davis and freshmen post Danielle Palmer followed behind with 13 and eight points respectively. Allen and junior guard Lindsay Black came in with five assists each.

After winning the tip off, the Vikings dominated, scoring with ease. Paly controlled the defensive side of the ball and effectively kept the ball out of Matador hands, allowing the Vikings to dictate the tempo of the match.

“Our key to success was Paly defense,” Black said. “[We were] playing hard, boxing out, and helping out on the other players.”

In one particularly smooth play, junior guard Shamelia Clay stole the ball from her opponent and sped across the court for a fast break lay-up, padding Paly’s lead, 14-3.

Near the end of the first quarter, the Matadors managed to score again, making the score 16-5.

The Vikings opened the second quarter with with three pointers from Davis and senior guard Mariah Phillips.

Vikings’ strong defensive pressure continued to shut down the Matadors, only allowing them five points, ending the first half at 36-10.

“I was very happy in how hard our girls played and the energy that they put into the game,” head coach Scott Peters said. “Even as we cut out a pretty big lead in the first half, we were playing hard, and the kids on the floor were playing great D [defense].”

The Vikings maintained their lead, with consistent scoring from Davis powering the attack.

With 1:45 remaining in the third quarter, Allen snatched the ball from a Matador, and in a play remarkably similar to Clay’s previous steal, sprinted across an open court for another two points to make it 48-20.

While racking up another steal, Allen was fouled, resulting in another point from penalty shots, bringing the Vikings’ lead to 52-20 at the end of the third quarter.

The Matadors rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring 22 points to the Vikings 16 points, but they never came close to threatening Paly’s lead.

Although this final burst of effort from the Matadors narrowed the gap a bit, it was not enough to prevent a resounding Paly victory of 68-42.

Through strong teamwork, the Vikings were able to add another win to their record.

“Together as a team we were able to come out on top,” Davis said. “I mean everybody scored, everybody contributed, and everybody did what they could for the team.”

Peters thinks that maintaining pressure on Matadors’ defense was a contributing factor to their victory.

“I think we frustrated them,” Peters said. “We got the turnovers that we needed, we got transitions, and we didn’t let up.”

However, the Vikings would not allow themselves to become overconfident.

“We just got to keep working off each game and we just got to focus on one game at a time.” Peters said. “It sounds boring but that’s really the key. We can’t get too high at a game like this because there are days when things don’t go your way and we just got to keep fighting… I think if we keep doing that good things will happen.”

The Vikings hope their bright start to the season will continue in future games.

“We’re not going to get too cocky,” Davis said. “But I’m just going to say it portrays that maybe we’ll go undefeated in this league. We’ll see.”

Palo Alto went on to defeat Wilcox on Friday at Wilcox High School, 39-9. Their overall record is now 11-3 and their league record is 4-0.