The 6-foot-4 Wojcik served as the epitome of Bellarmine’s surge to the top of the WCAL this season, someone who possesses an all-around game, yet also came through as a scorer when needed, especially in clutch moments.

One such example was in the Bells’ final game of the regular season, striving for a perfect 14-0 mark in league play against St. Ignatius. Trailing by six entering the final quarter, Wojcik put the team on his back, scoring 15 of his 24 points in the final eight minutes as Bellarmine completed a perfect campaign in the most difficult league in the Central Coast Section.

“He has East Coast roots, and it shows in the way he plays the game,” said Bellarmine coach Patrick Schneider. “He gets after it, in practice and games, and just plays a physical brand of basketball.”

Wojcik, who is committed to Siena, averaged 15.6 points per game for the Bells, along with four rebounds and two assists per game. He may have made an impression on Schneider for his physical nature, but he also showed the ability to shoot the lights out when necessary.

One such opportunity came in a mid-January game against St. Francis, trailing by seven early in the game. Wojcik, whose father Dave is the head basketball coach at San Jose State, then drilled five three-pointers and finished with 21 points, as the Bells rolled to a 17-point victory. The junior standout poured in 21 points once again when the Bells and the Lancers met in the CCS Open Division semifinals.

“He’s a leader by example, and came through in the biggest games, when we needed it most,” Schneider added.

That was an important attribute for a team that faced six league champions during the season, and still posted a 25-win campaign.

“Our leaders, like Jake, played great all season, against great competition. It wasn’t just in league play,” Schneider said. “(Jake) also played a bit more relaxed this season, after having already committed to Siena for his college career.”

Wojcik will return for his senior season, one of eight returners for the Bells in 2018. For now, he is the 2017 Prep2Prep CCS Player of the Year.

Homeless for the past couple seasons, that fact did little to deter the Vikings, who won 26 games, captured the SCVAL-De Anza title, the CCS Division I title, and advanced to the CIF NorCal Division I regional final.

With the new Palo Alto gym under construction – it will be done next month – the Vikings found places to practice on a weekly, and sometimes, daily basis.

“It ended up being kind of funny, how the guys had to wait each day sometimes to find out where we were going for practice,” said Palo Alto coach Peter Diepenbrock. “It became one of those things that enabled us to come together as a team.”

Diepenbrock realized early this year that the Vikings could be something special. Even with a floor leader such as senior point guard Miles Tention, Palo Alto’s greatest asset would be its depth.

“At the start of the year, we knew our biggest strength would be our numbers, not any one player who dominated,” Diepenbrock said. “We had a roster filled with really good high school players. That’s why we ran the up-tempo style.”

Palo Alto also prepared for the rigors of the De Anza Division by playing some of the best teams possible in its non-league schedule. The result was a few grueling close losses, two of them by three points each to eventual WCAL champion Bellarmine and to CCS Open Division semifinalist St. Francis. A loss to PAL-South champion Menlo-Atherton likely cost the Vikings a berth in the Open Division playoffs, something that was cemented two games later with a loss to Los Gatos, the only loss in league play for the Vikings.

As a result of those narrow losses – all to elite competition – Palo Alto wound up in a position where it needed to win the CCS Division I title in order to reach the NorCal playoffs.

“Those tough non-league losses were three opportunities where we competed, but didn’t quite get it done,” Diepenbrock said. “We knew we had to make the most of our opportunities late in the season as a result of that.”

After finding a style that worked for his team, Diepenbrock recalled the fact that it came down to players making plays in big situations. That started with Tention in the CCS Division I semifinals against Cupertino, scoring 13 of his game-high 29 points in the final four minutes. Next game, in the section championship against Los Gatos, it was another big game from Max Dorward – who posted a double-double against the Wildcats – while Will Schlemmer and Spencer Rojahn came up with huge plays down the stretch. Rojahn’s three-pointer as time expired captured the Division I crown and lifted Paly into the state playoffs.

“I will remember this team as one that fulfilled its potential when it counted at the end of the game,” Diepenbrock said. “We needed to play very well late in those games, and those kids came through.”

The state playoffs brought even more memorable moments for the Vikings. In the opening game against Fremont-Oakland, Paly found itself down by 12 points before catching fire in the second half, while Dorward dominated the final minute of the game for the two-point victory. That pitted the Vikings against top seeded Dublin in the regional quarterfinals.

“The Dublin game will always stand out to me,” Diepenbrock stated. “I said ‘wow’ when I watched them on film. We needed to play our very best game against them, and we did just that.”

The Vikings continued their amazing run one more time, as Diepenbrock’s squad steadily pulled away from St. Mary’s-Stockton in the regional semifinals before seeing their season end in the regional final against James Logan. Regardless, it had become a season for the ages on the Palo Alto campus.

For guiding his team through the everyday uncertainty and a schedule filled with elite opponents, resulting in an amazing level of success, Palo Alto’s Peter Diepenbrock is the 2017 Prep2Prep CCS Coach of the Year.

Other coaches considered for this award: Bellarmine’s Patrick Schneider, Monterey’s Greg Daniels, and St. Francis-Watsonville’s Ed Kelly.

Jamaree Bouyea

Logan Johnson

Angelo Athens

Jake Wojcik

Riley Grigsby

Miles Tention

Eric Norton

N’Jai LeBlanc, Jr.

Dylan Belquist

Kendall Stubblefield

Kobe Ordonio

Darrion Trammell

Sean Orr

Eugene Liao

Jacob Mihanovic