GIRLS BASKETBALL: Paly Falls in Physical Battle

The Score: Terra Nova 65, Palo Alto 60.

The Star: Terra Nova High’s Ivonne CookTaylor attacked the Vikings’ defense on the break and in the set offense all night and scored a game-high 18 points.

The Turning Point: Terra Nova’s Terilyn Moe drained all three free throws with 3:13 left in the game to give the Tigers a 63-53 lead -- a big enough cushion to hold off one last charge by resilient Palo Alto.

The Quote: “We kept battling back, kept going after them.” Palo Alto coach Scott Peters, whose team fell just short in a physical non-league battle.

What's Next? Palo Alto resumes play in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's De Anza Division by hosting Gunn on Friday at 6:15 p.m.

The Bottom Line: This was a very physical game between two teams that figure to make some noise in the Central Coast Section next month. If the teams were looking to use this one-game hiatus from league play as a playoff tune-up, then both came away with what they were looking for.

________________________________________________________

During its entire game against host Terra Nova at the Fourth Annual Martin Luther King Game Day Event on Monday, the Palo Alto High girls basketball team kept falling behind. But more importantly to Paly head coach Scott Peters, the Vikings kept coming back.

“We kept battling back, kept going after them,” Peters said.

Unfortunately, the last comeback bid the Vikings had in them fell just short as Terra Nova escaped its own gym with a hard-fought 65-60 non-league victory.

“We had runs, they had runs,” said Tigers coach Kareem Summerville said. “But we were able to get some key defensive stops at the end.”

The game was very physical throughout as the two teams -- playing in the next-to-last game of the eight-game event -- spent almost as much time laying on the court as they did running on it.

“We are a very strong and physical team,” said Summerville. “We wanted to wear them down and beat them with our aggressiveness and speed.”

It appeared at times throughout the contest that Terra Nova (11-4) was going to wear down and run away from the Vikings (10-3), who came in riding an eight-game win streak. But every time the Tigers began to pull away, Palo Alto would rally back to either take a slight lead or get back to within a handful of points.

Terra Nova's Terilyn Moe had three critical free throws after getting fouled by Palo Alto’s Emilee Osagiede on a three-point attempt with 3:13 left in the game. Moe’s free throws gave the Tigers a 63-53 lead, just enough of a cushion to hold off the Vikings’ final run of the night.

Ivonne CookTaylor led all scorers with 18 points, sparking Terra Nova with several points on the break and attacking the basket out of the set offense. Moe added 17 – 12 from the line – and Malia Elliott Tufono had 16, draining a trio of 3-pointers for Terra Nova.

Jayzyl Tauala converted two free throws in the final seconds, giving her 11 points for the game, to account for the final score and end any hopes of a Paly comeback.

Palo Alto was led by Osagiede’s 16 points. Shamelia Clay added 13 points in a losing effort.

“It was a tough game,” Palo Alto coach Scott Peters said. “We found some things tonight that we need to do better next time.”

________________________________________________________

Terra Nova 65, Palo Alto 60

PA – 13 16 12 19 -- 60

TN -- 17 13 20 15 – 65

PA: Allen 2 4-6 9, Osagiede 5 5-5 16, Davis 1 0-2 2, Clay 6 0-0 13, Palmer 4 0-2 8, Butler 3 0-0 6, Peterson 2 2-2 6. Totals 23 11-18 60.

TN: Taylor 9 0-1 18, Moe 2 12-15 17, M. Tufono 5 3-6 16, Tauala 3 4-4 11, Smathers 1 1-2 3. Totals 20 20-28 65.

3-point goals: PA: Allen, Osagiede, Clay. TN: Moe, Tufono 3, Tauala.

Records: Palo Alto 10-3. Terra Nova 11-4.