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Sports

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Palo Alto Cuts Down the Net

Vikings stay perfect and roll past Wildcats to claim outright De Anza title.

Palo Alto 58, Los Gatos 37

The Stars: The Palo Alto seniors. The senior class of Sydney Davis, Mary Albertolle, Mariah Phillips and Katerina Peterson were all honored before the game on senior night at Paly.

Springboarded after the emotional pre-game festivities, the senior foursome came out with a plenty of energy to burn in the early going. The seniors combined to score 12 of Paly’s 16 points in the first quarter, led by smooth shooting guard Mariah Phillips. Phillips buried two 3-pointers in the quarter and finished the game with nine points. Peterson and Albertolle each scored four points in the win. Davis added eight points and provided plenty of defensive grit on the other end of the floor.

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The Turning Point: Los Gatos (16-7, 7-4 De Anza) withstood the initial punch from the potent Palo Alto(18-4, 11-0 De Anza)  attack and inched back to within four points late in the second quarter.

 It was the second surge that sunk the visitors hopes of closing the gap even more.

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 The Vikings closed the final two minutes of the half on a 9-0 run. Lindsay Black knocked down a key triple, then junior Emilee Osagiede ripped off a steal at midcourt and quickly added two more points to the home teams cause.

The Vikings took a 32-19 lead into the half and never looked back en route to their 11th straight league victory. Black led the team with 13 points.

The Quote: "It’s our last time playing at home." —Palo Alto senior Sydney Davis said about the emotions of senior night. “We had to come out and give it everything we had.

The speedy senior may have played her last game at home Wednesday night, but she also said she expects more good things are ahead for this team.

“I expect us to be in the CCS championship game,” Davis said. “We trust each other. I believe we can do some great things in the playoffs.”

What's Next? Paly finishes off the regular season Friday night at Lynbrook High. Tip time is set for 6:15. The Central Coast Section playoffs begin next week.

Bottom Line: It was another suffocating defensive showing for the Vikings on Wednesday night. Squaring off against another playoff bound team, Palo Alto harassed ball handlers, swarmed the passing lanes and made the most of its opportunities throughout the night. The athletic group will go as far as its defense will take it once the playoffs kick off next week.

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 Palo Alto scoring

 Davis-8

Phillips-9

Osagiede-8

Black-13

Peterson-4

Allen-6

Albertolle-4

Clay-5

Butler-2

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