The Palo Alto High School girls’ basketball team (2-0, 0-0) beat San Mateo High School (0-2, 0-0) Wednesday, 82-29, in Paly’s Big Gym.
The Vikings are now 2-0 in preseason, while San Mateo dropped to 0-2. Paly played strong throughout the game, scoring an average of 22.7 points in the first three quarters, with 14 points in the fourth quarter.
The game saw higher scoring than usual, according to sophomore guard Siggi Bengston.
“We got 82 points,” Bengston said. “I can’t remember the last time we got 82 points in a game. We played really great.”
Starting off the game strong, the Vikings put themselves ahead, 22-8, at the end of the first quarter. Setting the tone for the evening, the Vikes made the first score of the game. Coming away with the ball at the tipoff, Bengston passed to sophomore point guard Maddy Atwater on the run. Atwater just missed a three point attempt but was saved when freshman guard Maya Lathi got the rebound and put the first points on the board with a layup.
The Vikings were able to come out strong on offense, racking up points throughout the game. At the half, they were up by almost twice the score of San Mateo, at 44-23. Atwater and freshman guards Lauren Koyama, Amelia Schmarzo, Julie Chandler and Jacky Moore all hit threes throughout the game.
“I thought we did a really good job playing as a team,” sophomore guard Coco Lovely said. “We shot tons of threes and we were on fire tonight. We played really well.”
Moving forward, head coach Scott Peters help the girls focus on defense, he said. Particularly, they will work on rebounding and getting steals, according to Lovely.
“This is truly a team,” head coach Scott Powers said. “These girls are working hard and playing hard.”
The Vikings will next take on Alisal High School at 1:30 p.m. Saturday Dec. 7 at Paly.