The West Valley basketball team clinched at least a tie for its second consecutive Coast-South Conference championship Wednesday with a patented second-half run that fueled a 94-68 win over visiting Hartnell. The Vikings (22-3, 10-0 Coast-South) can claim the crown outright with a win Friday (2/18) at second-place San Jose City (22-4, 8-2). 

Wednesday's game was close for the first twenty minutes. Hartnell (9-15, 3-6) held a 28-21 lead at the 6:00 mark, but went scoreless for the next 3:17 as WVC's defense stiffened. The Viking offense also caught fire to rally for a 37-32 lead that shrunk to 37-35 on Jordan Orazco's three at the buzzer.

The second half was all orange and blue, as the Vikings outscored the Panthers 57-33. West Valley came out of the locker room on fire, rampaging through the first three minutes on a 10-0 run for an insurmountable 47-35 lead. Ben Baker drilled a three with 6:10 left for a 77-51 Viking advantage and the end became a foregone conclusion.

Mahmoud Fofana was, at times, the best player on the court, grabbing rebounds, blocking shots and throwing down dunks. He had 12 points in the first half, finishing with a game-high 19. 11 of Adam Afifi's 17 points came after halftime, while Quinn Denker canned four treys on his way to 15 points. Baker was spectacular on both ends of the court, with a flourish of drives, behind-the-back passes and defensive rebounds to go along with a loud 13 points. Malik Patton was solid as a key bench player with eight points, and Sufyan Elkannan had seven second-half points.