Sidney Scores Lions’ Share

Playing a team like Fairfax twice in one season is hard enough. Playing the Lions twice in five days is a truly Herculean task, especially for an under-sized squad having to contend with 6′ 11″ senior center Renardo Sidney. The first time around, Palisades’ boys varsity basketball team came within inches of pulling off the biggest upset of the year in the City Section, losing by one point, 84-83, on Fairfax’s home court last Wednesday. Palisades point guard Lebre Merritt dribbled the length of the court for a layup to tie the game, 83-83, with 10 seconds left. Rico Matheney fouled Lions’ guard Lance Bailey with three seconds left. Bailey made the first free throw and missed the second, allowing Merritt a chance for a last-second three-pointer that hit the back of the rim. “We got behind by 10 points in the fourth quarter and challenged the kids to compete,” Palisades Coach James Paleno said. “From that point on we started executing the game. The kids started believing they had to play as a team.” Sidney, one of the most heavily recruited prep players in the country, had 39 points and Fairfax needed every last one of them to escape with a victory. Many coaches would be satisfied battling tooth and nail with one of the top-ranked teams in the state, but Paleno is tired of moral victories. “Sure, it’s great to have a shot in the end but sooner or later you’d like to win one of those,” he said. “Against a team that good you probably won’t get a better opportunity.” Sandwiched between the two Fairfax games was a home game against Venice–a team the Dolphins had routed on its own court two weeks earlier. It was a ‘trap’ game last Friday and Paleno sensed his team might come out flat. “We didn’t have a good practice on Thursday, we had a couple of guys get into early foul trouble and as a result we fell behind 22-6 in the first quarter. It was an uphill battle from there.” The Dolphins (14-11, 3-5) eventually caught up and took the lead in the second half, but the comeback took too much out of them and the Gondoliers pulled away in the last few minutes for a 71-60 victory that dropped Palisades into fourth place in the Western League with four games left. Monday’s rematch with Fairfax (18-3, 7-1), this time on Palisades’ home floor, offered the Dolphins a quick chance at redemption. Unfortunately, the Lions arrived equally resolved not to let their opponent dictate the pace. Fairfax came out on fire, racing to a 27-11 lead in the first eight minutes and stretching the margin to 45-27 by halftime on Sidney’s three-pointer from the corner at the buzzer. Once again, Palisades had no answer for the Lions’ top scorer, who finished with 28 points, giving him an average of 33.5 in the two games against the Dolphins. Palisades’ final home game is Friday at 7 p.m. against LACES. The Dolphins close out the season with road games at Westchester and Hamilton next week. Fairfax plays Westchester tomorrow with first place on the line. Girls Basketball Coming down the home stretch of its Western League season Palisades finds itself in a familiar position’within striking distance of a playoff spot and a first-round home game. To achieve that, however, the Dolphins must win at least three of their four remaining league games, thanks to a 54-53 victory at Venice on Monday, during which Palisades used a 21-9 third-quarter run to take the lead, then held off a late Gondos rally. Center Dominique Scott led Palisades with 26 points, 14 rebounds and one block. She is averaging a league-best 17.2 points per game. Heading into Wednesday’s game against University (result unavailable at press time), Palisades (13-9 overall, 3-5 in league) was in fourth place in the league standings behind Fairfax, LACES and Westchester. Next Wednesday (February 11) at 4 p.m., the Dolphins play a nonleague contest against Sierra Canyon at Staples Center. Boys Soccer A 1-0 loss to host Hamilton on Monday dropped Palisades two points further back in the race for the Western League crown. The Dolphins were one point ahead of Fairfax going into their clash at Stadium by the Sea the week before, which Fairfax won 3-1 to take over the league lead. Palisades responded with a resounding 3-0 victory over Venice last Thursday but its loss to the Yankees, coupled with Fairfax’s victory over Westchester, left the Dolphins five points behind heading into Wednesday’s 2:30 p.m. home game against third-place University (result unavailable at press time). The Dolphins (6-4-1 overall, 6-2-1 in league) travel to LACES on Monday and finish league at home against Westchester next Wednesday. Girls Soccer It’s not like Palisades was trying to run up the score Monday against Hamilton. No, the Dolphins were simply playing their normal game and the end result was a 9-0 drubbing of the Yankees at Stadium by the Sea. It didn’t take long for Palisades to get on the scoreboard, as sophomore forward Samantha Elander dribbled down the right sideline and lifted a shot from an extreme angle over the goalie’s head and into the far corner of the net less than 15 minutes into the game. Palisades led only 2-0 at halftime but after that, goals poured in with shocking regularity. Katherine Gaskin, Yasmine Tabatabai and Elandere each scored twice while Katie van Daalen Wetters, Kate Rosenbaum and Natasha Burks each added a goal as the Dolphins’ express train kept rolling towards its inevitable destination: another Western League title. Palisades has posted eight shutouts and outscored its opposition by a whopping 50-2 margin. The Dolphins (11-2-4 overall, 9-0 in league) won 1-0 at Venice on a first-half goal by Gaskin–their closest league game so far. They played at University on Wednesday (result unavailable at press time), host LACES on Monday at 2:30 p.m. and wrap up league play next Wednesday at Westchester.