That showed on the court as the Vikings breezed past University High of San Francisco 52-33 in a first-round game of the Gator Classic at Sacred Heart Prep last night.

Senior center Niki Ajagu led the way for Paly (1-2) with 19 points, the only Viking to score in doublefigures. He helped spark the Vikings with six points on a 15-0 first quarter run that allowed them to jump out to a big lead early and never look back.

"We lost our frst two games because we got behind. Getting the early lead (tonight) helped us realize that we had a chance to win," said Vikings head coach Peter Diepenbrock.

University actually started the game hitting on their first two possessions and took a 4-0 lead.

That would be their only lead of the night as Paly got six points from Ajagu and five from junior forward Cliff Andersen during the first-quarter run.

The Red Devils went nearly six minutes without a basket during the opening frame and found themselves trailing 16-7 at the end of the first eight minutes.

In the second quarter, Paly would take a 22-9 lead with 5:30 left until half. From that point forward, University broke out into their half-court trap defense to try and stifle the Paly attack.

The pressure only worked in spurts as the Red Devils managed to cut the margin to 23-15, but let it get back into double digits at 27-15 after a tip-in by Ajagu and two free throws from senior guard Tak Abe.

Paly then got cold from the field and missed their final five field goal attempts of the first half during the last three minutes and took a 27-20 lead into the locker room.

During the second half, the Vikings stepped up the intensity on the defensive end of the floor holding the Red Devils to just 13 points, with just five coming in the final frame.

After three quarters the Vikings upped the lead to 40-28, including a three pointer with inside a minute left from senior guard Aaron Wilson.

The fourth frame was all Paly as the Vikings went on a 10-2 jaunt in the first three minutes of the period. Ajagu scored off of an assist from Andersen to start the quarter. Sophomore forward Gerry Hall nailed a three pointer on the next possession. Wilson added a jumper from the foul line, and Ajagu chipped in with a threepoint play that gave the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 50-30 with 4:59 left in the game.

"We did a better job of defending them in the second half because we didn't get into foul trouble," added Diepenbrock. "We made them earn it."

Other scorers for the Vikings were Andersen who had nine, Hall added eight, Abe chipped in six; Wilson contributed five, Beau Clark and Kellen Winden each had two, Kevin Cook added one.

University was led by Steffan Ringelmann with 14, Jud Winton with 10, and Shaun Young with seven.

Paly will next face St. Elimbeth High of Oakland at 6:30 tonight at Sacred Heart in the semifinals of the pre-season tournament.