The Palo Alto High School boys basketball team (8-6, 2-1) moved into first place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League with a 66-51 win against Gunn High School (12-5,4-1) at home on Friday.

The Vikings were led by senior guards Davante Adams and Bill Gray. Adams was Paly’s high scorer with 14 points while Grey and sophomore E.J. Floreal both had 12 points. Junior guard Israel Hakim chipped in 11 points to round out a balanced scoring attack, with four players in double figures. Gunn and Paly came into the game tied for the top spot in the league.

The rivalry game started slowly with the Vikings nursing a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Only when Palo Alto head coach Adam Sax rotated in Gray did the Paly offense find a spark and by the end of the first half, the Vikings had widened their lead, 29-20.

In the third quarter, strong teamwork played a prominent role for the Paly, highlighted by a sequence in which Floreal stole the ball and passed to senior Charlie Jones on the fast break. Jones was unable to score but Adams swooped in to grab the rebound and scored with a nice floater over his defender. In a play that highlighted the Vikings strong defensive effort, junior center Tory Prati blocked Gunn’s final shot at the end of the quarter, to keep the score 50-32, with the Vikings in control heading into the fourth quarter.

Gunn turned up its offense pressure in the fourth quarter, looking for 3-pointers to close the gap, but it was too little too late. Paly never let the Titans back in the game, getting a 66-51 win that capped a sweep by Paly teams on the first quad night of the season.

With more than a month remaining in the regular season, the Vikings hold a one game lead in the SCVAL standings as they look to repeat as league champions.

Paly will play Homestead at 7:45 p.m. on Jan. 28 at home.