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The high school basketball season has just gotten underway and on Friday night league play begins with a Palo Alto-Los Altos doubleheader that could go a long way toward deciding, or at least having a significant influence on, the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division races, both boys and girls.
“This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve played a league game before Christmas,” Los Altos boys coach Trevor Naas said.
On the boys side, Los Altos is 5-1 and Palo Alto 4-1. On the girls side, Los Altos is 5-0, Palo Alto 5-1. The double header will take place at Paly with the girls game scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m., the boys game at 7:45.
The Los Altos boys are one point shy of being undefeated with the team’s only loss by a 69-68 score to St. Francis.
“They are probably the favorite in our league,” Palo Alto coach Jeff LaMere said. “They play really hard. They guard you on defense and look to push the ball in transition.”
“I think it’s wide open,” Naas said. “Mountain View is solid. Paly is always good.”
The Eagles are led by Jake Skaggs, a 6-foot-5, three-year starter who received MVP recognition last week at the Burlingame Lions Tournament, where he scored 47 points in three games to lead Los Altos to the team title.
“He has guard skills,” Naas said. “We try to use him inside and outside.”
Andrew Reilly, another third-year starter who Naas can utilize at any of the five positions, scored 16 in a 52-40 win over Burlingame in the championship game.
Point guard Zach Fagin and off guard Shawn Toney both did not play for the Eagles last spring, instead competing for the Los Altos track team. Getting them,both back on the hardwood gives a big boost to team speed and athleticism on the defensive end.
Fagin, a wide receiver on the Los Altos football team who made the all-tourney team at Burlingame, was characterized by Naas as “a great on-ball defender.”
Reed Keenan and Varun Madabhushi provide additional size on the front line.
Palo Alto’s only loss was by three points to Casa Grande of Petaluma in the Miramonte Tournament. The team’s four wins have been by an average margin of 42 points per contest.
LaMere is a little concerned about the lack of quality opponents Paly has faced.
“Honestly, we haven’t played anyone,” LaMere said. “Branson was supposed to be in the Miramonte Tournament, but dropped out due to COVID. We ended up playing one good game. That’s the nature of basketball right now, games are getting canceled.”
Sebastian Chancellor has been a team leader at point guard.
“He really understands the game,” LaMere said. “A very good passer and a good shooter.”
Lucas Black, a tight end on the Palo Alto football team, has provided a physical interior presence. Matt Corrigan, a three-year varsity player, starts at one wing. Nikhil Majeti has been a pleasant surprise as another forward, Noah Chen starts at shooting guard. Another key player is Ryan Lykken, described by LaMere as “a very good offensive player.”
“I like our team, we’ve got depth, our chemistry is good,” LaMere said. “These kids play so hard.”
The Los Altos girls are 5-0 this season and 18-4 since Erik Stuart took over as head coach last spring. The Eagles swept Paly in the first two games played last spring.
“We were lucky to catch them early,” Stuart said.
Palo Alto went on to finish 10-2 in league, winning its final 10 De Anza Division games.
Abby Lu, the only senior to have played so far this season, leads the team in scoring at 10.4 points per game with 42 of her 52 points coming on 3-point shots.
Another senior, 6-2 Parker Neugebauer, is recovering from a torn ACL and is expected back later in the season.
The Eagles have a number of players who can hit the boards. Macy Watson, a 6-0 sophomore, missed the first four games, but had six points and eight rebounds in her season debut against Lynbrook. Tessa Player, “our best pure athlete,” leads the team with 9.4 rebounds per game. Natalie Holm averages 7.4 boards while Mira Sundar and Tara Davari each average 6.6.
“We have decent size, we rebound well with a committee approach,” Stuart said.
Paly’s only loss was to San Ramon Valley. The Vikings lost their two leading scorers from last season, Carly Martin and Annika Shah, but return point guard and 3-point shooter Kaella Peters along with some newcomers playing key roles.
Freshman Natalie Neumann scored 18 points and turned in a solid defensive performance in Paly’s last game, a 63-47 win over Santa Teresa. Vienn Sheng, another freshman, scored 11 points in that game, making three 3-pointers.
Point guard Nadia Brown is a sophomore transfer from Eastside Prep. The team also has some size with returning post players Jessica Fiske and Thea Enache.
Both coaches mentioned Los Gatos and Homestead as contenders in the De Anza this season in addition to their own teams.
“Paly will be our toughest test,” Stuart said. “They are great shooters. They run a lot of Princeton stuff and love to play fast. We have got to find a way to slow them down. We prefer not to have the game played at warp speed.”
