Palo Alto continued its mastery over rival Gunn and got a helping hand while taking over first place in the SCVAL De Anza Division with a closer-than-expected 65-54 victory over host Gunn on Wednesday night in boys' basketball action. The Vikings (7-1, 17-2) moved closer to defending its division title after erstwhile co-leader Mountain View (6-2, 15-5) suffered a 58-39 loss to Los Gatos.
Gunn (0-8, 6-14) shot well in the first half and kept things close, trailing only 32-29 at intermission. The Vikings took over in the third period and went on an 11-2 run that was triggered by a three-pointer from Mathias Schmutz, who finished with a season-high 20 points.
It was 47-35 entering the fourth quarter and Paly pushed its lead to 21 points at one point. Aubrey Dawkins added 16 points for the Vikings while fellow junior E.J. Floreal contributed 13 and senior Israel Hakim had 10. Gunn senior Shang Yip led all scorers with 22 points, but the Titans nonetheless dropped their 11th straight game. Palo Alto won its sixth straight and 11th in the past 12 games.
