The Paly boys’ varsity basketball team dominated Thursday night in their 71-57 victory against Chico High School. The victory advances Paly to the Northern California Division II state finals.
The fans came in massive numbers, filling up the entire gym, in anticipation for the last home game of the season.
The Vikings came out fast, and ended up leading the entire game. At halftime the Vikings had a 15-point lead, 40-25. The Chico panthers, however, threatened back in the third quarter, with an offensive rally, lead by junior Mike Anderson, which brought them within eight points of the Vikings. Anderson totaled 31 points in the game and proved to be the Vikings biggest obstacle.
"We knew they were a good shooting team," Paly head coach Peter Diepenbrock said. The Vikings still managed to outplay the Panthers both offensively and defensively.
Junior starter Jeremy Lin watched the game from the sidelines, after fracturing his leg before last week’s CCS championship game. Diepenbrock and Paly fans put their faith behind senior forward Brian Baskauskas and junior forward Steven Brown, who both tore up the court and led the team in scoring.
"We know Brian is going to make the right play," Diepenbrock said. Baskauskas and Brown fulfilled everyone’s hopes. Baskauskas led the team with 22 points and Brown was right behind him, going five for eight on three point shots, for a total of 21 points for the night.
Defensively, senior Martin Mouton led Paly with a total of 10 offensive and defensive rebounds.
With their win over Chico, Paly advances to the Nor Cal Division II state finals game, which is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in ARCO arena, home of the NBA Sacramento Kings. The Vikings, the number one seed in their division, will take on Oak Ridge, the third seed. Oak Ridge upset the number two seed, San Ramon Valley, by one point, 63-62, on Thursday to move on to the finals. If Paly beats Oak Ridge, they will advance to the state finals on March 18 against the winner of the Southern California Division II finals.
For the first time in our three-year history, the Paly Voice will be providing live coverage of Saturday’s game against Oak Ridge. Score, stats and pictures will be posted periodically throughout the game.