GIRLS BASKETBALL: Simply The Best

Palo Alto 54, Gunn 44

The Stars: Seniors Sydney Davis and Shemelia Clay. The Palo Alto High girls basketball teams relentless defense was on full display in its most important game of the season. Palo Alto didn’t make life easy for its nearby rival Gunn High. Paly defeated Gunn 54-44 in the Central Coast Section Division I Girls Basketball Championship game Saturday night at Santa Clara University.

White and Clay each scored 12 points in the win. The first CCS girls hoops title in school history is also the third CCS crown for Paly in the fruitful 2010-11 campaign. Both the football team and the girls volleyball teams won CCS crowns in 2010.

Gunn junior Julia Maggioncalda led her team with 11 points. Sophomore guard Claire Klausner had nine points for the Titans.

The Turning Point: After Palo Alto roared out to a 14-4 lead in early in the first quarter, Gunn fought back with a 13-2 run to briefly pull ahead 17-16 two minutes into the second quarter. The narrow lead with the lone advantage of the night for the No. 3 seeded Titans. Paly absorbed the punch and decided to hit back. The physical Vikings got contributions from all over the lineup in the win, taking an eight-point lead into the halftime break and extending the lead to 10 points after three quarters of play.

Senior catalyst Davis put the final nail in the Titans coffin with a deep 3-pointer that put the Vikings ahead by 13. With only two ticks left on the shot clock, Davis let loose the high arching shot that found nothing but net. The make sent Davis into the sky with joy as the crowd and her teammates erupted.

The Quotes: “This feeling is indescribable,” Davis said after the CCS title triumph. “We’ve wanted this for so long. To be the first Palo Alto team to win a CCS championship in school history is pretty special.”

 Davis drew another big grin recalling her clutch trey at the start of the fourth quarter.

 “I was just taking one for the team,” Davis said. “I saw the shot clock was going down so I just put one up there. I didn’t think it was actually going to go in. I was really happy when it did.”

 Palo Alto head coach Scott Peters loved his teams work ethic from the start of the season until the final whistle of the title game.

 “They just played hard,” Peters said. “Gunn is a tough team. We knew they would make a run. When theres two evenly matched teams, the more aggressive team usually wins. That’s the style we like to play.”

 What's Next? Palo Alto and Gunn will await the unveiling of the CIF State Tournament/NorCal brackets on Sunday night. The two teams will open play either Tuesday or Thursday night. Palo Alto is guaranteed to host at least one more playoff game.

Bottom Line: Palo Alto packed the middle of the paint and didn’t allow Gunn post Catherine Perez to establish any type of post presence on this night. In half court sets the Titans saw a swarm of green jerseys in the key. When try tried to push the ball up faster, the Vikings full court press bogged down the speed of the game. It was Paly’s pace from start-to-finish, allowing the green-and-white clad No. 1 seed to hoist the section’s first place trophy.

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Palo Alto 54, Gunn 44

PA – 16 13 8 17 – 54

G – 9 12 6 17 – 44

Scoring

Paly

Allen-4

Osagiede-11

Davis-12

Black-2

Clay-12

Palmer-2

Philips-5

Butler-2

Peterson-4

Gunn

Zwerling-4

Ogawa-3

Klausner-9

Maggioncalda-11

Perez-8

Shevick-5

Redfield-4