On Friday, February 14, Paly boys basketball celebrated their Senior Night, honoring 10 senior players for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to the program during their time at Paly. The team faced Los Gatos, who holds the third place spot (one below Paly) in league standings. Sadly, the team could not squeeze out a win, with the game ending in a 53-48 loss.

After the Senior Night ceremony, the game immediately kicked off with a lot of energy. Earlier in the season, the team defeated Los Gatos at their home court, so the opponents came out with fiery, looking for revenge. Paly showed a lot of hard work and improvement from previous games.

“The team had really good energy whether it was on or off the bench,” Senior Gus Soedarmono said. “We definitely rebounded the ball better than last game and played with good intensity.”

The game remained close between the two teams, with the Vikings pulling ahead in the third quarter. But, Gatos had strong scoring in the first half that set strong momentum for their offense.

“I would say throughout the game it was back and forth, and they were definitely knocking down their threes,” Soedarmono said.

The atmosphere was also electric. Both parents and fans filled the stands and really showed up. They crowds were also able to keep Los Gatos’ fans at bay and gave the players the energy they needed in the game.

Despite this, the team was not quite able to finish strong.

“In the end, I think our team failed to capitalize on our momentum,” Soedarmono said. “There was a period where we had the crowd hyped up and were up by 7 to go into the fourth quarter, however we weren’t able to close the game out and missed a couple crucial shots.”

“I think everyone put out great effort and we didn’t get the result we wanted in the end, which was a bummer for the seniors, but now have to focus on playoffs,” Senior Jeremiah Fung said.

Although the team did not get the desired outcome for their valued seniors, the team has still reached immense success this season and now must push through as they enter into the playoffs. They will use this game as a learning opportunity and fuel to go as far as possible and complete their legendary season.