The Palo Alto High School boys’ basketball team (19-6) defeated Cupertino High School (18-8) this morning, 52-42, at Foothill College in the Central Coast Section quarterfinals.

Both teams showcased stiff defenses early, particularly the Pioneer’s zone defense, which made it difficult for the Vikings to find open shots near the basket. The Cupertino offense, however, faired even worse, struggling themselves to get inside the paint and not converting on deeper shot opportunities.

“Our coach prepared us pretty well, so we knew we’d be able to score and stop their offense,” point guard Alec Wong (‘12) said.

While the Vikings worked to find holes in the Cupertino defense, they also worked together to shutdown the Pioneer’s top shooting threat, forward Gokul Natesan (‘12), and their quick point guard, Terry Chu (‘11). After a quarter of virtually unperturbed play, Paly led by a score of 12-7.

With renewed energy and vigor, the Pioneers began to move the ball more quickly around the perimeter, and saw success early with a 3-pointer from Ryan Prendergast (‘11), but that was about it. The inside presence of Paly forward E.J. Floreal (‘13), who reeled in nine rebounds in the first half, and the electric play of guard Israel Hakim (‘12) coming off the bench, helped widen the gap at the half to 24-16.

“We wanted to be physical in the post and utilize our height advantage,” forward Tory Prati (‘12) said. “We tried to attack from different angles and give them different looks.”

As the half began, the Vikings kept their foot on the gas pedal and never let up, not once surrendering their lead for the remainder of the game. Chu, seeing his team’s playoff hopes slip away, doubled his aggressiveness and became a one-man scoring show, putting up 10 points in the third quarter. However, Paly shooting guard Davante Adams (‘11), who had a game-high six assists, found a consistent opening in the Pioneer zone, and repeatedly pounded the ball down low to Floreal, who matched Chu with 12 third quarter-points of his own. Floreal finished with a game-high 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Chu led the way for Cupertino with 16 points.

Up 41-32 going into the final quarter, the Vikings maintained their intensity and, behind a distributed scoring effort which saw baskets from Adams, Floreal, Hakim, Prati, and forward Charlie Jones (‘11), kept a Pioneer comeback at bay before handing off the final few minutes to their underclassmen.

Paly will face No. 1 seeded Archbishop Mitty High School (26-2) at Foothill College next Tuesday (time TBA) in the CCS semifinals. The Monarchs knocked the Vikings out of CCS last year, so Paly will look to erase that memory.

“I think it’ll be a good challenge for us,” Wong said. “We’ve been preparing for a game like this for a while. It’s going to be physical, it’s going to be fast paced, and I think it’s going to be fun.”