The Palo Alto High School girls’ basketball team (12-12, 5-7) will begin post-season play in the Div. 1 Central Coast Section playoffs 1 p.m. Saturday at Gunn High School against an opponent who has yet to be determined.

Paly, which has continued to practice throughout the week, is waiting on a game between Salinas(15-9, 8-4) and Mounatin View (12-11, 4-8) to determine who they will play.  According to sophomore guard Maddy Atwater, the team is anticipating playing Mountain View on  Saturday.

Regardless of the opponent, the Vikings are looking to get on track after closing out the season with two losses.  The two byes that they received for the first two rounds of the tournament may give them the time they need to get healthy and prepare for their next opponent.

“We are looking to fix our offense by passing a lot more and working the ball around the court for a good shot,” sophomore guard Coco Lovely said.

The Vikings failed to score more than 34 points in either of their games last week and haven’t broken 50 since late January when they faced a woeful Milpitas squad (6-15, 0-12).

However, the team remains optimistic about its chances in the playoffs this year after not qualifying for CCS postseason play last year.

“We can definitely win CCS if we apply ourselves,” Atwater said.

The beginning of the playoffs marks the end to what many consider a disappointing season for the girls in green and white.  Although they started off strong, forfeiting two games because of ineligibility and dropping three of the last five games hurt their seed in the playoffs.

The young Viking squad won’t hang their heads as they look into the future.

“We know we could’ve won a few more games and some of those games really hurt,” Atwater said.  “We have to move on and just learn from all our games in the regular season so that we can play better during playoffs.”

If the Vikings defeat their opponent Saturday, they will advance to the semifinals on March 5 at Gunn.