Dolphins’ Quest: Conquer City!

The postseason has begun for the winter season and all four Palisades High varsity teams were selected to the City Section’s upper division playoffs. Below is the breakdown of the brackets and first-round matchups: Girls’ Soccer Kim Smith’s squad was seeded fifth out of 16 teams in the City Section Division I tournament and opens with a first-round match Thursday against No. 12-seeded Granada Hills Kennedy. Opening kick-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Stadium by the Sea. The Dolphins (15-5-2 overall, 11-0-1 in Western League) will be heavy favorites against the Cougars (15-6-1, 8-1-1), who finished second behind Sylmar in the Valley Mission League. Palisades has scored 76 goals and allowed only 16 this season, led by junior co-captain Kathryn Gaskin (25 goals, 11 assists), sophomore Katie Van Daalen Wetters (10 goals, 9 assists), freshman Jacklyn Bamberger (8 goals, nine assists), junior Samantha Elander (8 goals, 3 assists) and sophomore Lily McGuire (6 goals, 10 assists). Six different players tallied goals and junior goalie Kiki Bailey made four saves to record her 12th shutout of the season in the Dolphins’ final tune-up, an 8-0 league drubbing of University last Friday. Kennedy scored 56 goals and allowed 28 this season, led by Soraya Ziarati (20 goals, 6 assists), Delaney Enriquez (13 goals, 2 assists) and Tiara Fuentes (10 goals, 5 assists). The Cougars share three common opponents with Palisades: Sylmar, Chatsworth and Taft, going a combined 2-2-1 against those schools. Palisades last reached the City finals in 2005 and this might be the year the Dolphins return to the championship game. If they get past Kennedy they will either host 13th-seeded Chatsworth or travel to No. 4 San Pedro next Thursday at 3 p.m. The semifinals are Tuesday, March 2, and the finals are March 6 at Contreras High. Boys’ Soccer Thanks to a dramatic penalty kick goal by top-scorer Max Ledesma with five minutes remaining, Palisades tied University 1-1 last Friday and wound up in first place in the Western League standings. The Dolphins (8-1-5 overall, 6-1-5 in league) were seeded No. 7 in the 32-team City Championship draw and blanked 26th-seeded Lincoln (5-7-1, 5-4-1) in the first round Wednesday, 2-0, on an own goal and a turnaround shot by Jesse Vasquez. Ledesma began the playoffs with 9 goals and Shane Centkowski had 5 for the Dolphins, who took a five-game unbeaten streak into their game against the Tigers, who finished third in the Northern League behind Marshall and Belmont. Palisades scored 29 goals and allowed 8 in the regular season. In the second round the Dolphins will host 10th-seeded Fremont of the Coliseum League at 3 p.m. on Friday. Fremont (11-2-4) eliminated No. 23 Venice 2-0 in the first round. The quarterfinals are next Wednesday, the semifinals are March 1 and the finals are March 6 at Contreras High. Girls’ Basketball Ten years ago and Palisades vs. Narbonne was more like a finals matchup. This year, they will meet in Thursday’s first round of the City Division I playoffs, with the 13th-seeded Dolphins in the role of underdogs against the No. 4 Gauchos in Harbor City. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. It has been a topsy-turvy year for the Dolphins (6-20 overall, 5-7 in Western League), who had to forfeit nine games prior to the playoffs but closed the regular season with victories over Westchester and Hamilton to finish fourth in league. Sophomore center Donae Moguel leads the squad in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game, and point guard Ashlie Bruner is averaging 13.2 points and 3.8 assists. Narbonne (19-9, 9-3) finished third in the Marine League behind Washington and Carson. The Gauchos are led by junior guard Tailor Butler (12.4 points per game) and junior forward Atoe’ Jackson (points and 7.6 rebounds per game). Both teams played Carson this season. The Dolphins lost to the Colts in the finals of their own Palisades Beach Invitational while Narbonne split a pair of league games with Carson. Should Palisades pull off the upset Thursday it would travel to either No. 12 San Pedro or fifth-seeded Chatsworth in the quarterfinals next Tuesday at 7 p.m. The semifinals are next Thursday night and the City finals are March 6 at USC. Boys’ Basketball James Paleno’s squad again played one of the toughest schedules in the City and was rewarded with the No. 6 seed out of 16 teams in Division I. The Dolphins (19-8 overall, 8-4 in Western League) begin their quest for the title on their home court Friday against No. 11 Lake Balboa Birmingham (14-11, 4-5 West Valley League). Opening tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Each team finished third in its respective league. The Patriots split two league games against second-place Cleveland while Palisades won at Cleveland in a nonleague contest. Birmingham is paced by seniors Angel Gutierrez (16.7 points per game) and Sahdi Odu (15.7) while the Dolphins counter with senior wing Garrett Nevels (20.7), sophomore guard Donovan Johnson (13.1) and senior forward Kenneth Towner (11.1). If the Dolphins win Friday night they will likely travel to third-seeded Crenshaw (19-3) for the quarterfinals next Wednesday at 7 p.m. If the Cougars are upset by 14th-seeded South Gate, the Dolphins will host South Gate on Wednesday. The semifinals are next Friday at USC and the Division I championship game is March 6 at USC. sports@palipost.com