Pali High Basketball Nets League Wins

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Having suffered narrow defeats in its first two Western League contests, Palisades High’s boys basketball team left nothing to chance in its 68-52 triumph over visiting LACES last Wednesday.

Charlie Moore led all scorers with 19 points, Avery Lee had 15, Owen Larbalestier had 10 and Jayden Haloossim and Drew Kerkorian scored five apiece as the Dolphins built a 12-point lead at intermission, then answered every single run the Unicorns made in the second half.

“We believe we can beat anyone if we play the right way,” said Bowdoin Brazell, who swished a 3-pointer for his team’s first basket. “We have a lot of confidence, especially here on our home floor.”

Only two nights later the Dolphins were back in action against a league opponent and after withstanding an early surge Palisades fought back to trail by only two at halftime, 21-19,  to first-place Fairfax. The Dolphins hit six 3-pointers in the third quarter to take a 39-37 lead, setting up a frantic finish.

David Mack sank two free throws to put the visiting Lions up by three with 9.2 seconds left. After Moore’s 3-point attempt fell short, Kerkorian swooped in, caught the ball in midair and made a reverse layup at the buzzer, but Fairfax escaped with a 57-56 win. The Dolphins fell to 1-3 in league play, with their three losses by a total of nine points.

Moore scored 16 points against Fairfax, Lee and Kerkorian had 12 apiece and Brazell added 11. Tyler Bey paced the Lions with 15 and Mack added 14.

On Monday, the Dolphins traveled east to Hamilton for their first road game in league, determined to avenge a five-point loss to the Yankees in early December.

Palisades fell behind by seven points early but outscored Hamilton 22-10 in the second quarter to seize control. Kerkorian gave the Dolphins an emotional lift by banking in a 3-point heave from beyond halfcourt as the halftime buzzer sounded to put his team up 37-32. The teams played on even  terms in the third quarter.  

Hamilton pulled even at 49-49, but a steal and layup by Kerkorian gave Palisades the lead for good with five minutes left. The home team crept to within two, but with the shot clock winding down Lee drained a 3-pointer with 29.8 ticks left and the Dolphins held on to win 65-58 and put themselves into the thick of the league race with seven crucial games remaining. In recent years the league title has been a two-horse race between Fairfax and Westchester, however this winter there is more parity as Palisades and Venice are also in the hunt. The Dolphins traveled to Westchester yesterday and host last-place University on Friday.         

While the boys were collecting their first league wins, Pali High’s girls squad continued its march to a fourth straight league crown, but  it has been anything but easy. In a low-scoring defensive struggle at LACES last Wednesday Palisades managed to pull out a 37-35 overtime win to take sole possession of first place. Janelly Portillo scored nine points, Demonnie Lagway had eight and Taylor Arnold added seven for the Dolphins.  

On Friday, Palisades was back on the road to take on Fairfax and Lagway scored 13 points to key a 30-point win.

On Monday, Palisades returned home to face Hamilton—the team the Dolphins had faced in the City finals each of the previous two years. Having beaten the Yankees handily on the road in the schools’ previous encounter before going on Winter Break, Palisades was forced to play the rematch without Lagway, its top scorer, and the result was much closer than anyone  in a Dolphins uniform wanted.    

Portillo’s layup gave Palisades a one-point lead, Elise Arnold sank two clutch free throws to increase the lead to three with two ticks left and the Dolphins survived 40-37 for their 27th league win in a row.