Paly head coach Adam Sax attributed the strong offensive effort to a balanced attack with several scorers instead of one person making the shots.

“The key to the whole team right now is that we are shooting the ball,” Sax said. “We [the team] are shooting perimeter. Before it was just Schmarzo; now we have Wong, Adams, Jones. Those guys are also taking shots.”

Paly’s offense was led by sophomore center E.J. Floreal along with senior forward Davante Adams, and senior guard Max Schmarzo. Floreal scored 21 points while Adams and Schmarzo both scored 15 points. All of Schmarzo’s points came on 3-pointers. Adams had a game high 12 assists and Floreal grabbed nine rebounds to pace the Vikings.

Paly played aggressively from the start of the game and raced out to a 20-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. In a highlight reel-worthy play, Adams showed his athleticism, cutting through the Los Gatos defense for a dunk over senior center Luke Hollander. The high tempo of first quarter tired out the Wildcats and allowed the Vikings to score easy baskets in the later quarters.

Paly effectively put the game out of reach in the second quarter using a transition offense to stretch the lead to 46-25.

The third quarter was more of the same with Paly dominating Los Gatos in all aspects of the game. Adams made another electrifying play when senior forward Charlie Jones threw an ally-oop from the 3-point line. Out-jumping several Los Gatos defenders, Adams flew through the air for a two-handed slam that brought the crowd to its feet. The electrifying ally-oop drew cheers from the crowd and proved the Vikings’ strong teamwork and communication. At the end of the third quarter, Paly led, 65-39.

In the final quarter of play, the Vikings padded their lead and pushed their advantage to more than 40 points. Although a Paly victory was secure, the team kept up its energy, attacking the basket on every possession. Floreal pleased the crowd with his third dunk of the game and when the buzzer sounded, Paly walked off the court with a 85-42 victory.

Before the game started, Palo Alto held a brief ceremony for its seniors who were playing in their final home game. Principal Phil Winston gave each player a bouquet of flowers. The honored seniors were guard Bill Gray, Jones, Adams, center T.J. Braff and Schmarzo.

With the win, Paly is assured its second consecutive Santa Clara Valley Athletic League title as well as a good seed for the Central Coast Section playoffs.

The CCS playoffs will be a challenge, but Sax remains positive, hoping to progress as far as possible. He noted that there will be teams that are better than Paly.

“We [the Vikings] always want to win it or go as far as we can,” Sax said. “Mitty’s one of the top teams in the state of California and it’s going to be quite a challenge playing them.”

Before entering the playoffs, Sax hopes the team will be able to improve its defensive pressure.

“I think our defense is capable of being a little better,” Sax said. “We [the team] can clean some stuff up, get our 1-3-1 going and man-on-man defense and that will ultimately help us.”

Editor’s note: After beating Lynbrook High School in its final league game and finishing 10-1 to win league, Paly received the fourth seed in Division II of CCS. To see the complete CCS bracket go to: http://cifccs.org/playoffs/results/10-11/Bsk%20B%20D2%2011.pdf