After three months of playing, the Central Coast Section Division II title comes down to a showdown between the undisputed best two teams in the section, Palo Alto and Archbishop Mitty.
In the semifinals, the Vikings defeated fourth-seeded South San Francisco, 55-46, while the Monarchs crushed the Cinderella story and hometown favorite Santa Clara squad, 71-48.
Palo Alto (27-1) hasn’t lost since Dec. 19 and Mitty (27-3) last lost on Jan. 12. The two teams each won their respective regular season league title, but have yet to face off. The last time these two juggernauts met was in last’s year CCS finals, where the Vikings edged the Monarchs, 45-42.
To reach the finals, second-seeded Mitty won all three games with ease, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 215-140. The Vikings, with the top seed, only had to win two games to reach the finals, but their victories did not come as easily.
After surviving Woodside, the eighth seed, the Vikings faced the Warriors (22-7) in the semifinals on Feb. 28. Despite almost stumbling in the quarterfinals, head coach Peter Diepenbrock was not too worried.
“We just had a bad night,” Diepenbrock said. “Our team just needs to go out there and play their game.”
The Vikings escaped the quarters thanks to Jeremy Lin’s 33 points, and the team knew they couldn’t depend on their all-star to carry them all the time.
In the first few minutes, neither team looked worthy of reaching the finals. Multiple missed lay-ups and turnovers led to one point between the teams in the first two minutes. As the quarter progressed, so did the intensity. The Vikings appeared to hold the momentum until a desperation three-pointer rattled in at the buzzer, giving the Warriors a two point lead.
In the second quarter, guard Bobby Patch took over hitting three straight three-pointers and finishing the half with 16 points. With Lin being double teamed, the Vikings spread the ball around allowing each of the six seniors to score in the quarter. As time expired, senior Steven Brown set up for a long three, but was slapped on the arm by a Warrior defender. There was no foul called, further frustrating the Paly fans, but the Vikings still held a 30-29 lead.
In the second half, the Warriors’ hot shooting suddenly cooled while the Vikings continued to spread the ball. As the game progressed, the talented, but undisciplined Warriors began to falter. The more polished Vikings made crisper passes and better decisions, leading to a five point lead entering the final quarter. The turnovers, fouls, and ill-advised shots finally caught up with the Warriors, who played a tough game, but were just outplayed by the better team.
Both teams played aggressively on defense throughout the game. The Vikings managed to find the open man and get good shots. The Warriors appeared flustered especially with Paly’s full-court press. The Vikings used double-teams and switches to confuse the Warriors.
Lacking composure, the Warriors committed 17 turnovers in the game. Most of those turnovers occurred when the Warriors were double-teamed forcing them to make risky passes.
When the Warriors did shoot, they relied on Patch to stay hot. With Brown now guarding Patch, the 5’9" guard had trouble shooting over a taller defender. Patch made only one field goal in the second half and finished with 19 points.
Like in the quarterfinals, the Vikings entered half-time in a close game. The second half of the two playoff games so far, the Vikings have outscored their opponent 62-41. The Vikings are no stranger to playing better in the second half especially when they fall behind early to a team they should beat easily.
“I think we may have underestimated them [Warriors] a bit,” senior Cooper Miller said . “But we are a second half team.”
In the quarterfinals, the Vikings had three players with over five points, but in the semis, five players finished with at least seven points. Ironically, the only starter with less than seven points was Lin, who scored 33 in the quarters.
“They [Warriors] made it a priority to guard me,” Lin said. “That opened up my teammates for better shots.”
The Vikings’ leading scorer was forward Kheaton Scott, who had seven points in the first quarter and 13 overall.
“My dad couldn’t make it to the game,” Scott said. “I really wanted to play well for him.”
Seniors Brad Lehman and Miller added seven and 11 points respectively. Brown, coming off a miserable performance in the quarterfinals, had 10 points. Lin had only five points, but had eight rebounds and six assists. Even without scoring, he led his team to victory.
“He’s [Lin] got a great feel for the game,” Diepenbrock said. “He finds the open players and feeds them the ball.”
For Lin, the finals will be a second chance. A day before last year’s final against Mitty, Lin broke his foot, ending his season. The Vikings won that game and then advanced to the NorCal finals, all without Lin.
“It’s been a goal of mine ever since last year,” Lin said. “But we’re not satisfied with just the CCS title. We want the state title.”
Lin will get another chance at a CCS championship game on Friday when the top two seeds face off in a match-up that has been anticipated for months. For the Vikings to advance past the Monarchs, they will have to go through 6’9” sophomore standout Drew Gordon. Gordon towers four inches over any potential Viking defender.
Despite the daunting task ahead of them, the Vikings are ready to defend their crown. The Vikings and the Monarchs have been the top two teams in CCS for a while, and each team has wanted a rematch since their last meeting. At 8:30 p.m. on March 3 at Santa Clara University, the rematch for the title will begin.
Three months of playing and it comes down to one game for the CCS title and. On Friday, the hype will be over and the two best teams will clash once again.