On Wednesday, the Trojans — and specifically Ronney Freeman — were making their shots. Freeman scored a game-high 26 points, connecting on seven of the Trojans’ 10 3-pointers in a 75-43 win over host West Valley in the first round of the Northern California Community College playoffs. The No. 17 seed Trojans (18-13) advance to play the state’s top-ranked team, Fresno City College (32-0), in Fresno on Friday.

Talk about a significant victory. Skyline won its first playoff game since the 2000-01 season, the year it advanced to the State Final Eight.

“We had it all rolling tonight,” Trojans coach Justin Piergrossi said. “It was just one of those nights.”

Where everything went just about perfectly. Against a team it lost to by six points in December, Skyline displayed more energy, determination and motivation against a squad that finished second in the Coast Conference South Division. Echols and the Freeman brothers once again set the tone defensively, combining for seven of Skyline’s 13 steals. Echols was literally diving all over the court for steals and hustle plays, and the Freemans were equally devastating on defense, using their quickness and anticipation in forcing the 16th-seeded Vikings into countless ballhandling mistakes. West Valley finished with 26 turnovers to Skyline’s 16.

Both teams had it going early. West Valley made five of its first nine shots, but Skyline was on fire, connecting on eight of its first nine and 14 of its first 19 field goal attempts. There were five ties and seven lead changes in the first five minutes alone.

The Vikings answered with a score but Mike Lavelle (11 points) hit a jumper from the left wing. Then Echols came up with a steal near midcourt and went in for a dunk, making it 18-13 with 13:17 left in the half and setting the tone the rest of the way. The play was a microcosm of the game, as Echols simply outfought his opponent for the ball, showing a gritty scowl on his face in the process.

Echols had another superb all-around game, finishing with eight points, five assists and two steals. More importantly, he and former Mills High teammate Matt Fochtman — who had 14 points on a near-perfect 7-for-8 shooting, all in the first half — provided Skyline with the energy and points in the early going.

“We all look up to Shawn for his leadership,” Ronney Freeman said. “Shawn is such a great leader and we all follow after him.”

West Valley came back and midway through the opening half trailed by only by one point, 23-22, but Skyline ended the half on a 14-6 run. Fochtman was pivotal in the paint. His teammates got him the ball down deep in the post, and the 6-foot-7, 230-pound sophomore had too much size and height for anyone on the Vikings to guard him one on one.

In one impressive stretch in the final minutes before halftime, he scored eight consecutive points. Skyline went into the break with a nine-point lead, but quickly asserted itself to open the second half. The Trojans gradually padded their advantage before unleashing a devastating 25-4 run to blow things open. Skyline could do no wrong.

It limited West Valley to just 15 second-half points, including only one field goal in the final 10 minutes. The Trojans were simply too quick and athletic, and when you combine those advantages with a hot shooting game, the result was somewhat predictable. They also executed relatively well in the halfcourt — something it struggled with for most of the season — and displayed tremendous patience.

Skyline finished with eight offensive rebounds to West Valley’s four, and did an outstanding job on the Vikings’ best player, Danny Nugent, who entered the contest averaging 23 points per game but was held to 17. Even on the few occasions when Nugent got by his defender, there was another Skyline player providing solid help defense.

“We knew Nugent is a hell of a player,” Piergrossi said. “So everytime he touched it (the ball), there was a guy there and another guy ready to go there (to defend him). I thought we played harder for 38 of the 40 minutes. We’re peaking at the right time of the year. If you’re going to win, it’s because of your sophomores. I can’t say enough about what they’ve done.”

Especially Ronney Freeman and Lavelle, who have come on strong recently from the outside. Freeman connected on six treys in a win two weeks ago, and Lavelle has had his best games all in the last couple of weeks. Skyline shot 53 percent (27 for 51) from the floor, including 10 of 16 from 3-point range. Freeman was one-man highlight-reel, making seven of eight shots from beyond the arc.

“They (Ronney Freeman and Lavelle) just haven’t made shots for most of the year, so it’s the right time (for them to get hot),” Piergrossi said.

Freeman, in particular, was unstoppable. Because of his ability to get to the basket and Fochtman’s play on the inside, Freeman was given space to shoot. And boy, did he ever. Time and again he spotted up and drained 3-pointers, each time putting a dagger to any hope of a West Valley comeback. Freeman said the key to his recent hot streak has been the overall improved play of the team. Skyline often played at breakneck speed for most of the year but has since showed more discipline and patience offensively.

“Once we slowed down our offense and started cutting better, it opened things up,” Freeman said. “In pregame warm-ups I was struggling, but coach said shoot with confidence and that’s what I did. When you’re hitting all those 3s you feel like you’re in a zone and just let the shots fly.”

Now Skyline will try to accomplish something that no team has done this season — beat Fresno, which has been one of the nation’s elite programs the last several years with a 12-man rotation that never lets the opposition breathe. The Rams average over 90 points per game and has hit the century mark on several occasions. The Trojans are looking at the matchup with nothing to lose.

“Now we get to play the best in the state,” Piergrossi said. “(As a competitor) this is what you play for.”

Said Freeman: “We’ve been practicing since the summer to get to this point. We wanted to win a playoff game and now we get Fresno. We’re trying to get to their standards. They’ve got a good coach, good players and a good program.”

And so does Skyline.