Three years. For Mariah Philips (‘11) and Katerina Peterson (‘11) it has felt like an eternity. Year after year and game after game Philips and Peterson have faced cross-town rival Gunn High School and walked off the court with the same result; a loss. If you ask any Palo Alto High School athlete you will learn that the Gunn game will either leave them with moments they will never forget, or ones they try to push to the back of their minds.

Tonight was a moment the Lady Vikes will not forget. For the first time in three years Paly (5-0-0) defeated the Titans, 47-39, on quad night last night at Paly, securing a first place position in league. The team may have been playing against history, even if its fans weren’t quite matching up to the Gunn vistors’ stands: The Lady Vikes had a drive and determination that could not be matched.

A fairly even first quarter started the teams off 11-8, with Paly leading. The Lady Vikes hit a rough patch in the second quarter however, scoring only two points early on. In the last five minutes of the first half, the Titans went on a 10-0 run, leaving the Lady Vikes trailing by eight points with less than a minute to play. Paly Guard Lindsay Black (‘12) provided a final push for the team in the ending moments of the half, hitting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to leave the halftime score at 23-18, in the Titans’ favor. Black had a total of 14 points for the Lady Vikes.

That 3-pointer was the turning point. After halftime, the Lady Vikes came out firing. Guard Emilee Osagiede (’12) says her team realized what it was there to do.

“We looked up at the scoreboard and we were just like, ‘Wait, are we seriously losing to this team?’” Osagiede said. “They weren’t doing anything special, they weren’t better than the other teams we have played and at that moment we decided we weren’t gonna lose.”

The Lady Vikes stepped onto the court and never looked back. Osagiede started the team off with a bang − a steal and a quick drive to the basket brought the score to 23-20, Paly trailed by only 3 points. The Paly defense stepped up as well, allowing only six points in the entire third quarter. After an 18-4 run by Paly the score at the end of the period was 38-29: a dramatic turnaround from a dry second quarter.

“I was just thinking, ‘We’re not gonna lose, we’re not gonna lose,’ because this isn’t their year anymore, this is our year,” Osagiede said.

Paly head coach Scott Peters attributes his team’s success in the second half to strong game plan execution and the team’s chemistry.

“I think we did a better job of executing in the second half,” Peters said. “Our girls are really focused and have come together as a team and that means a lot. Having that is like having a sixth player out there.”

In the fourth quarter the Lady Vikes held a strong lead on a rival they had not beat in three years. Then came another turning point. Some teams would have relaxed and let down their guard. Some teams would have stopped working. Not Paly.

Osagiede began the final 12 minutes with a rebound, drive to the basket and the completion of the three point play. She finished the night with 13 points and nine rebounds, closely followed by point guard Sydney Davis (‘11) who had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Vikes.

At 41-33 Paly with 3:34 left to play, it seemed to be over for the Titans. Even a six point rally in the closing minutes of the game was not enough and as the final whistle blew, the scoreboard spoke for itself: 47-39. For the first time in three years, Paly players celebrated a victory against Gunn, the continuation of an undefeated season and a number one spot in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. It was a moment the Lady Vikes will not soon forget.

“It was the biggest adrenaline rush,” Peterson said. “I started to get flashbacks of every time we lost and how upset we were, and now we finally got the win and those games don’t matter anymore. We beat them. And we will beat them again.”

The Lady Vikes will face off against Los Gatos High School at Los Gatos this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

“We have to celebrate this, especially when you beat Gunn,” Peters said. “But on Monday we have to come back and prepare for the next game because it means the same as this game. Our goal is to be a better team at the end of the year than we are now.”