The Lynbrook High School girls basketball team didn’t panic when host Saratoga jumped out to a 12-0 lead in a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division game on Jan. 5.
The Vikings chipped away at the lead, caught the Falcons by the end of the third quarter, and proceeded to win 49-44.
“This whole season, we’ve really been emphasizing the defensive end,” Lynbrook coach Lynley Takaki said. “I thought Saratoga was shooting the lights out to start, and we just wanted to defend them cleanly. … I think that the defense kept us in it in the long run. … We went to the man, and that slowed them down a little bit.”
With the victory, Lynbrook improved to 9-5 overall and 2-0 in El Camino Division play. Saratoga fell to 10-4, 1-1 with the loss.
The Vikings already have more overall wins this season than last season, and the same number of El Camino Division wins entering this week.
Saratoga only scored six more points in the first quarter after their 12-0 opening run, while the Vikings produced 12 points to cut the lead to six. Lydian Li had five of her team-high 18 points in the first quarter for Lynbrook.
Saratoga held a 28-20 lead at halftime, then scored the first points of the second half on a layup by Jane Loo. But Lynbrook proceeded on an 8-0 run to get close to the lead. The run included three-pointers by Sara Ho and Li.
A 3-pointer by Lynbrook’s Catherine Huang with 29.6 seconds left in the third quarter tied the game at 35. The Vikings had seven 3-pointers in the game, including four in the third quarter.
A close basket by Kavitha Thirumaran gave the Vikings the lead to stay at 37-35 with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter. But Saratoga stayed close. It was within one point of the lead when Harshini Ramaswamy sank two free throws with 1:19 to play in the last quarter to narrow Lynbrook’s advantage to 45-44.
But the Vikings scored the last four points of the game, on a layup by Ho and a basket by Li.
“This is a great win for us,” said Takaki after the game.
Thirumaran was a defensive presence for the Vikings, as the junior grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Ho filled up the stat sheet with five rebounds, three assists and five steals in addition to her seven points. Thirumaran also scored seven points.
The comeback over Saratoga was early compared to the Vikings’ thrilling overtime victory over visiting Los Altos on Jan. 2.
Los Altos held a 37-30 advantage at the end of the third quarter. But Lynbrook outscored the Eagles 10-3 in the fourth quarter and 7-2 in the overtime period to prevail.
Li scored a game-high 18 points and Ho added 14, including a trio of 3-pointers, in the victory. Thirumaran had a team-high six rebounds and Kasey Chuang had a team-high four steals.
