With the win, the Vikings (2-2) move into the championship game tonight at 8:00 against host team Sacred Heart Prep.

"This was a great win early in the season," stated Paly head coach Peter Diepenbrock. lt shows they're a real tough group to make the plays down the stretch to get the win."

For the second night in a row, senior center Nik Ajagu was a man among boys for Paly, scoring a game-high 21.

"Nik is really in the process of learning what it takes to be a dominating player, understanding he has a huge role on this team," added Diepenbrock. "He had another big game for us tonight which is a big step forward for him."

Despite the close nature of the game, Paly never trailed at the end of any of the four periods with leads of 11-6, 2O-16, 37-34, and the final margin of 51-47.

The first period saw Paly explode out of the gate, scoring the first five points of the game, two coming from Ajagu underneath, and three coming from Aaron Wilson. The Vikings outscored the Mustangs (2-2) 9-2 over the first seven minutes of the period, before St. Elizabeth closed the margin in the final seconds.