BRENTWOOD, CA - After dominating nearly all of the second half, the closest thing to a last-minute disaster reared its head for visiting Palo Alto on Saturday night, taking on top-seed Heritage in the CIF NorCal Division I regional quarterfinals.
After Heritage senior shooting guard Jacob Williams got inexplicably wide open for his sixth three-pointer of the night, cutting the Vikings' lead to three points, the ensuing inbounds pass was deflected by a Heritage player and a scramble ensued under the basket. Luckily for Palo Alto (25-3), the Patriots deflected the ball back out of bounds, unable to get a firm grasp on the ball. The Vikings then inbounded again, passed the ball over a deep two-man trap to halfcourt, where Palo Alto then found senior Will Schlemmer racing towards the basket. Schlemmer slipped between two Heritage defenders, drew the foul, and gently laid the ball off the glass for the basket. As he completed the three-point play a minute later, giving the Vikings a six-point lead with 46 seconds to play, the second half comeback was complete, and Palo Alto hit its free throws in the final seconds to pull away for the 59-49 victory and a berth in the regional semifinals.
Just like last year, the Vikings had to go on the road, facing a top-seeded team from the North Coast Section in the regional quarterfinals. Last year, the Vikings knocked off top-seeded Dublin in this round. Saturday night, they trailed early to a Heritage (29-3) team intent on pushing the pace and playing a full-court up-and-down style of game. The Vikings committed eight turnovers in the first half, as they attempted to play at a pace more resembling that of what Heritage wanted to happen. Meanwhile, Heritage drilled a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter, but five consecutive missed free throws prevented the Patriots from really creating early separation, despite an 11-4 run to start the game.
After that early seven-point deficit, the Vikings began to settle down and chip away, as coach Pete Diepenbrock loudly implored his team to make 'short easy passes' and settle into a half-court game. They did exactly that, and the Heritage lead was just five at the break, 27-22. Heritage junior point guard Ezra Manjon led all scorers in the first half with nine points, disrupting the Palo Alto defense with his ability to get into the paint, and showing off an array of step-back jumpers to go with a one-handed dunk on a fast break. The Vikings' defense, however, could be compared with that of glue setting over time. Early on, it was penetrable, with gaps here and there, as Palo Alto adjusted to Heritage's speed and multiple players who can play from the perimeter.
As the second half began, however, that glue set, and the Viking defense began to move as one unit, denying drives to the basket, entry passes, or easy looks from the outside. And when a three-pointer by Schlemmer gave Palo Alto a 34-32 lead in the third quarter, the Vikings were right where they wanted to be, out in front of a game which had turned into a half-court battle.
"I knew when we fell behind, it would be tough to come back against these guys," said Heritage coach Pat Cruickshank. "They did a great job of slowing it down, controlling the pace, and turning us into a perimeter team."
Indeed, the Viking defense forced the Patriots into contested jump shots throughout the second half, and nearly every time a shot missed its mark, there were at least three green jerseys there to dominate the glass. Schlemmer and Max Dorward both collected double-doubles, with Dorward scoring a game-high 16 points to go with 10 rebounds, and Schlemmer adding 13 points and 10 rebounds. Schlemmer was cold from the field early, but scored 11 of his points in the second half.
"We did a lot of good things defensively," Diepenbrock said. "I saw these guys score 100 points a couple weeks ago. You guys have seen them play. That is not the game they normally play."
After a scoreless first half, the Vikings also began to find Spencer Rojahn. Rojahn appeared tight early in the game, but loosened up in the third quarter, drilling a trio of shots from beyond the arc, as Palo Alto outscored Heritage 19-10 into the third quarter and carried a 41-37 lead into the fourth quarter. The lead swelled to eight points, before Williams hit a deep three to make it 45-40, but Palo Alto responded with one of its patented half-court sets. On four different occasions, Diepenbrock called one-time plays in the half court. Every time, it worked to perfection, this time with Dorward streaking to the basket on an isolation dash without the ball, and he took a lob just outside the paint for a picture-perfect kiss off the glass.
As Heritage fouled late in the game, the Vikings came through from the line. Jared Wulbrun sank four free throws, and Schlemmer drained three more. Wulbrun and Rojahn each finished with nine points. Williams led Heritage with 18 points, while Jonathan Ned added 10 points, and Manjon scored nine points, all in the first half.
With the win, Palo Alto earned an unexpected home game this coming Tuesday, and against a familar opponent. As the public address announcement was made that Menlo had beaten Central-Fresno, 64-56, and the Knights would be headed to Palo Alto, a roar rose from the Vikings' crowd which had made the nearly two-hour trek to Brentwood for the game.
"This is our revenge tour," Schlemmer said to Palo Alto Weekly reporter Glenn Reeves, referring to an early December loss to Menlo in the Burlingame Lions Club tournament. "We also want another shot at Mitty (who beat St. Ignatius in the quarterfinals, and faces Las Lomas in the other Division I semifinal)."
As for Heritage, the loss concludes a season in which the Patriots went unbeaten in the Bay Valley Athletic League, captured the school's first ever North Coast Section title in basketball, and helped Cruickshank earn his 300th victory as a head coach, which occurred at the Marin Catholic Bambauer Tournament in December. Of Heritage's three losses, they avenged a regular season loss to Dublin by knocking the Gaels off in the NCS semifinals. The other two losses were against CCS Open Division teams - Serra and Palo Alto, teams who held the Patriots to their two lowest scoring outputs of the season.
"I think with a little bit of a time, we will realize how special this season was," commented Cruickshank, shortly after his team left its locker room with red and teary eyes, a sign of the bond this group had all year long. "This year was a great run, with a great group of guys."
