After suffering a disappointing loss, 62-61, to Los Gatos High School in overtime on Friday, Jan. 8, the Paly boys’ basketball team (4-1, 11-6) rebounded in the second meeting of the teams with a dominating fourth quarter to win, 54-40, at Paly on Friday, Jan. 29.
While the the Vikings started with a convincing 8-2 lead, the score was 23-21 by the half, and Los Gatos led by three points early in the third quarter.
Paly head coach Bob Roehl, however, never doubted a Viking victory.
“I was actually expecting a bigger win, based on what we saw last time,” Roehl said. “Sometimes we made bad choices on our passes and shooting, but we’re getting better at it.”
Junior forward Max Schmarzo led the Vikings in total contribution to the score with 20 points, followed by senior guard Joseph Lin with 12 and junior forward Davante Adams with 11. Seniors Michael Hodgman and Jeff Spagnola led Los Gatos, with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Lin said that the team performed better this time because the players have had more time with the new coach to get things figured out.
Roehl joined the team halfway through the season after the release of the previous coach following a championship loss in the Lions tournament on Friday, Dec. 11.
Lin appreciates Roehl’s poise in leading the team.
“He’s really relaxed,” Lin said. “He coaches with a lot of confidence.”
Senior forward Steven Kerr noted that the Vikings have changed defensive tactics since the last Los Gatos game, a strategy which the players found to be very effective.
“Last time we went man-to-man,” Kerr said. “This time we used a match-up one, which was better against their driving offense.”
Senior forward Kevin Brown said that the team really started playing well in the second half.
“At halftime he [Roehl] gave us the speech he usually gives us when we’re down at the half, saying that we’re not going to leave without the win,” Brown said. “It was really inspiring.”
Los Gatos began committing more fouls as the intensity of the game increased later in the game, allowing the Vikings to get to the free-throw line and pick up 10 points from free throws alone in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats committed 10 fouls in the second half of the game, compared to only four by the Vikings.
While most of the calls favored Paly, the Viking fans booed several calls, especially those against Brown.
“I got called for holding two times,” Brown said. “Maybe I was being aggressive, but the refs look out for me, not in a good way, because I’m bigger. If it looks like I’m roughing a guy up, they’ll call.”
The Vikings couldn’t complain about the final score, though.
“It was a great win,” Kerr said.
Paly’s next game will be against league rival Gunn. The Vikings dominated their crosstown competition, 45-37, in the their last SCVAL meeting.
When asked how the team plans to prepare for the game, Roehl responded confidently, “We’re ready right now.”
The varsity boys will play again at 7:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, at Gunn High School.