The Eagles played a decisive game against the Lynbrook High School Vikings yesterday, January 15, putting another win on the untarnished league record. Lynbrook was unable to defend against the Los Altos squad’s fast breaks and fluid passing, so the Eagles took off early and maintained a solid lead through the entire game.

“These types of games can be difficult to play in,” Co-captain senior Kieran Stolorz said. “At the beginning of the season, we had a huge issue of playing down to our opponent’s level. Tonight we were able to put together a complete 32 minutes with a high energy level despite the level of competition.”

Despite missing its other co-captain senior Nate Becker, the Los Altos squad certainly pulled no punches. The Eagles established a clear tone in the very first few minutes of the game, capitalizing on drive after drive and shutting the Vikings out on the defensive. While the Eagles had clearly outclassed their opponent, they kept their play at a high level.

“It’s important that no matter how large our lead is, we focus on the ‘little things’ or fundamentals, so that we can improve for the tougher teams in our league,” Kieran said. “I think tonight was a good indicator of how far along we have come as a team, and how much our chemistry has developed over the season so far.”

The game also marked an attendance milestone for the school’s Blue Crew, the new “sixth man” club that aims to improve attendance at school sporting events across the board, but has been especially active in advocating for the basketball team.

“Having a crowd is an enormous advantage,” coach Bob McFarlane said. “It takes away from the opponent’s focus and can really fire up the home team. And really it’s just a lot of fun.”

To entice students to come support the team against Lynbrook, the basketball team printed give-away t-shirts with money donated by three local companies. The first 50 people at the game received a free Blue Crew t-shirt, while the next 50 received free hot dogs. The operation was hugely successful, drawing enough students to fill a couple sections with “magic fingers” during the team’s free throws. The Blue Crew looks to run similar campaigns for upcoming games as well.

The Eagles play away against second-place Wilcox High School on Friday, January 18. Another win will solidify their position at the top of the leaderboard as they go into the game against league rivals Fremont High School on next Tuesday, January 22.