Paly started out the game strong, pushing ahead to a 9-3 lead in the first few minutes of the game. Kevin Mullin (`15) came out of the gate strong, scoring the Vikings’ first five points and making a couple of steals early on. That trend would continue for the rest of the half and throughout the game. Los Gatos brought the score within one point at 18-17, but the Vikings pushed the score to 34-25 with less than two minutes left in the opening half. That would remain the score until a Wildcats’ player hit a shot from near half court as the clock expired to end the first half with Paly ahead 34-28.

Mullin led all scorers with 17 points in the first half to go with three steals. Alex Dees (`15) played the part of distributer in the first half, leading the team with four assists. Miles Tention (`17) added six points of his own on two three-point field goals and finished with nine. The Vikes lacked presence in the paint, however, being easily outrebounded and outscored at the rim.

Los Gatos scored five points in the first minute of the second half, cutting the Paly lead to one. Paly countered with a couple runs of their own, pushing the score to 43-40 before scoring nine unanswered to extend their lead to 12 points at 52-40. The two teams entered the fourth quarter with the score at 52-45.

Mullin played with great determination in the third quarter, scoring most of his 18 second-half points, finishing with 35 points (14-26 FG). “Kevin played well. 14 of 26 shooting, that’s pretty good,” Coach Adam Sax said of his play. Mullin made up the bulk of the offense, “that’s kind of just how it materializes. We’d like to swing the ball a little bit more, but at the time nobody was really hitting anything. That’s kind of what we’ve been doing all year,” added Coach Sax.

Dees showed great hustle in the third quarter, pulling in six boards (he led the Vikings with nine rebounds). Mikey Grandy (`16) also played well in the second half, scoring all six of his points while picking up a steal, two assists and four rebounds (six total). Tention swiped three steals to contribute on defense.

Los Gatos came out dominant to start the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points before Paly made a shot, giving them a 55-52 lead. Paly was able to tie the game at 57 with less than three minutes and trailed by one with a minute left. However, the Vikes were unable to score for the remainder of the game and the Wildcats sealed the game with two free throws with three seconds left.

Coach Sax was available to comment following the disappointing loss. “At the end of the day, we got out-rebounded and we gave up too many layups. We need to defend better, and we can’t give up layups. We gave up too many easy baskets,” said Coach Sax, “we’re the smallest team in the league, we got pushed around a little bit tonight, and that really hurt us at the end.” The Vikings size was clearly a problem, as Los Gatos outplayed Paly on the glass and often scored at the rim. Paly also lacked scoring outside of Mullin, the only other scorers being Max Dorward (`18) with four, Dees with four, and Oliver Svirsky (`16) with one, along with Grandy’s six and Tention’s nine.