Senior E.J. Floreal elevates for a two-handed dunk in Paly’s league-opener rout over Homestead High School Wednesday night.

– Matt Ersted

The Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity basketball team (10-1-0) started off league play strongly in a rout of Homestead High School today, cruising to a 46-20 victory over the Mustangs, at home.

Senior guard and forward Israel Hakim led the team with 14 points, which included a string of key buckets late in the third quarter that cemented the Vikings’ win.

Junior forwards Aubrey Dawkins and E.J. Floreal also contributed to the Vikings’ point total, scoring 11 and 8 points respectively. Floreal added several dunks during the game, including an alley-oop on a pass from junior guard Aldis Petriceks.

Senior guard Alec Wong was confident about the team’s performance.

“It was good, first game of league,” Wong said. “We really wanted to work on some things like hustling, putting the other team under some pressure. And we did that today.”

Although the Mustangs opened the scoring, the Vikings quickly took the lead on buckets by Floreal and Hakim. The first quarter ended with the Vikings leading Homestead by ten points, 14-4.

During the second quarter, Paly cranked up its offensive pressure, widening the gap to 16 points. Dawkins scored five points and Petriceks added six points in the quarter. The Vikings went into halftime up 28-12.

The Vikings’ defense came up big after the break, as Homestead was unable to score in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, Paly increased its lead to 41-12.

In the final quarter, Homestead increased the pressure on the Vikings’ offense, often double teaming on defense in an attempt to regain possession. The Mustangs were able to score eight points in the quarter, but the Vikings had already iced the game in the third quarter.

The Vikings regained possession of the ball with under a minute left in the game and ran the clock out, leaving the final score at 46-20.

After the game, Wong indicated his high expectations for the season.

“If we keep putting in the effort that we showed tonight, I think the season will be what we want it to be,” Wong said.

Paly head coach Adam Sax praised his team’s vigor.

“I think defensively we had a little more energy today than we have had in the past,” Sax said. “We’ve been starting off pretty slow the last three games so we went with a little different lineup. We had a little scrimmage yesterday, whoever wins gets to start. So, they were a little bit more motivated yesterday in practice. The passion and energy was at a much higher level today.”

The Vikings’ next game will be against the Mountain View High School Spartans (8-3-0) at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6, at Mountain View.