Boys’ basketball triumphed over Fremont High School 54-44 at home on Saturday, Feb. 6. They are now 4-4 in league and 13-7 overall.

William Schlemmer (‘18) credits his team’s success to how well they worked together.

“I think [the game] went really well because we came together as a team and we passed the ball really well,” Schlemmer said. “Everyone did their jobs the way we needed them to.”

The Vikings started off the game with a quick 6-0 run to lead Fremont. Fremont fought back until they were only behind  by two points, but Justin Hull (‘16) and Max Dorward (‘18) held them off with offensive rebounds and putbacks. They finished the first quarter with a comfortable 17-9 lead.

“We worked on taking care of the ball and making sure we made easy passes,” Paly coach Diepenbrock said. “We got a shot up every time down, that’s been our problem the last couple games.”

In the second quarter, Fremont sunk their threes. 15 of their 17 points were from beyond the arc. Paly held the lead by once again dominating the boards and finishing their layups. To end the first half for the Vikings, Spencer Rojahn (‘18) finished a layup after a steal to lead Fremont 31-26 at the half.

The second half started with a three-pointer for Fremont, but Paly quickly answered with five points. It went back and forth for the rest of the third quarter but baskets from Dorward and Schlemmer kept the Vikings’ lead. The period ended with Paly up 42-37.

In the fourth quarter, Paul Jackson III (‘18) started things off by making two free throws. Hull  then widened Paly’s lead with eight consecutive points. Dorward finished things off for the Vikings with two more points. Although Fremont scored seven points, it was too little too late and the game ended 54-44.

Looking ahead, the Vikings will continue to improve their offense by trying to limit their turnovers.

“Something that we still need to work on is waiting for a better pass and not always forcing it early in the shot clock,” Schlemmer said.

Additionally, with the season wrapping up soon, the team is looking to improve their standing in league which would set them up well for the postseason.

“We had our little four game league losing streak and we’ve snapped that now,” Hull said. “We won three [league games] in a row so a goal would be to keep it going and finish as well as we can in league.”

Next up, the Vikings will face Wilcox High School away on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.