Whetsone, who led the Vikings with 22 points, calmly netted both free throws as the Vikings stole a 65-64 victory from the Titans in what was one scintillating thriller.

This game had everything -- plenty of late lead changes as the huge throngs cheered vehemently for both teams as thesetwo city rivals locked horns.

A couple of Paly students mosied onto the court and waved a monstrous green Paly flag. which came off the handle and floated to the hardwood between the third and fourth quarters.

That delighted the Gunn fans, who were up by two points at that juncture. "It was the loudest crowd I've seen in my three years as coach here," said Paly head coach Pete Diepenbrock.

Gunn point guard Anthony Rea had given the Titans (8-10 overall, 2-2 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division) the lead with 38 seconds left when he hit a short runner in traffic that dropped down only after the ball had circled inside the rim four times.

Rea was superb the whole night, scoring 17 points. He even banked in a buzzerbeater from just across the mid-court line to end the third period.

The game was physical as it usually is when these two teams meet. Rea, who was the guilty party when he fouled Whetstone baseline right 15 feet from the hoop with two seconds left, suffered a chipped tooth when Whetstone leaned over him on a shot the previous trip down court.

The Vikings (8-8 overall, 2-1 De Anza) were buoyed by the return of center Nik Ajagu, who hadn't practiced or played in three weeks. Ajagu had eight points, including seven in the third quarter.

Cannon's story

The major sub-plot in this manic contest was the return to the Palo Alto campus of Gunn guard Luke Cannon.

The senior Cannon, who transferred to Gunn this year after being disappointed with his playing time at Paly last year, had a rough start, but then went absolutely three-point crazy.

Cannon drained seven treys, the last six of the high-arcing rainbow variety, then motioned to the Gunn crowd after each one. He finished with 21 points.

"I just wanted to show (Paly) what it's all about," said Cannon. "We'll get to play them again in our gym. We showed that we could play with them tonight."

The Titans certainly did, playing aggressive defense and causing 26 Vikings turnovers on the night.

Paly, like a fly in a spider's web, constantly inbounded the ball in the corners against Gunn's 1-2-1-1 full court press. The Titans laid a quick double-team on the Vikings backcourt players and came with several steals.

"I expect our players to defeat that trap," said Diepenbrock.

Leading the way defensively for Gunn was forward Steve Baker, who had 14 points.

The Vikings got big lifts from forward Cliff Andersen and guard Aaron Wilson, who combined for 18 points.

The Titans will look back and rue 10-for-22 from the free-throw line, while the Vikings were near perfect, shooting 19-of-21.

Bad move

Gunn head coach Jeff Klenow was assessed a costly technical right before the first half ended, which cost Gunn two points when Andersen swished two from the charity stripe.

"I was mad because the official scorer wouldn't buzz our player in," said Klenow, who wandered down past the scorer's bench, then was T'd up by referee Jim Farquar.

Security was on red alert as Gunn fans, who filled the upper East balcony, tossed debris on the court after the Whetstone drew the game-deciding foul from Rea.

But, it was the Paly fans, who had the final say, storming the court like they had just won the Central Coast Section championship.

They hadn't. They had beaten archrival Gunn. That was good enough.