After claiming victory against the Warren Bears on Feb. 11, the Boy’s Varsity Basketball team proudly held the title of the 2011 San Gabriel Valley League Champions.
Right into the first quarter, both the Vikings and the Bears showed their upmost effort to keep the ball off their side and ultimately, prevent the opposing team from scoring. Though the first quarter ended with Warren on the upper hand (14-10), the Vikes redeemed themselves in the second quarter with a 15 point addition to the score board, leaving the score at 25-18.
“Even though the guys didn’t seem to be doing their best during the first quarter, the amount of points they made during the second part really made them stand out,” senior Jennifer Ibarra said.
Once the Warren cheerleaders were done performing throughout halftime, the ongoing climb towards the Viking’s victory moved at a steady pace during the second half of the game. Though Warren made the first basket at the top of the third quarter, shots made by players such as forwards Dallas Lopez and Andrew Gonzalez kept the boys at an eight-point lead through the remaining part of the game.
“We started the game thinking that we were going to win,” Adefeso said, “but when Warren gave us a wake up call, we matched it by playing even harder.”
By the fourth quarter, the Viking’s team captain and forward, Dami Adefeso, proved himself yet again to be one of the boys’ most valuable players. Scoring a total of 18 points throughout the night’s game, Adefeso along with Lopez made way for Downey’s ultimate victory against the Bears, which ended with the total score of 56-49.
“Honestly, we just came out there knowing that we had to get the game done and beat Warren in order to get into the playoffs,” Lopez said.
Upon the night’s victory, another succession was given to the Vikes, the rightful title as the San Gabriel Valley League Champions. Being 9-1 in league, the guys did an outstanding job with both the season and with supplying the demanded amount of both offensive and defensive plays during their games.
Due to the exceptional season the guys had, they were able to skip the first round of CIF and have optimistic views towards the second round on Feb. 18. After a long 20 years of waiting, the time came for the boy’s varsity team to receive their anticipated award once again.
