The only concern Palisades High goalie Laura Bailey had before last Friday afternoon’s first round City Section girls playoff game was that her team might play down to the level of the opponent. Coach Kim Smith dismissed that possibility in the pre-game huddle, imploring her players to “put the ball in the back of the net.” The Dolphins did just that three times to beat 30th-seeded Verdugo Hills 3-1 and advance to yesterday’s round of 16 against 14th-seeded Kennedy. If victorious, Pali will host either sixth-seeded Chatsworth or 11th-seeded Marshall in the quarterfinals Friday at 3 p.m. Showing no signs of complacency, third-seeded Palisades took control from the first whistle as Alex Michael intercepted a pass on the kickoff and fed a through ball to Lucy Miller for a breakaway chance 10 seconds into the game. Winger Nicole Angrisani scored the Dolphins’ first goal in the 14th minute when her well-placed cross carried over the goalie’s head. “I was actually just looking to center it,” Angrisani said. “But when I saw the goalie reaching for it I realized it might go in and that’s even better.” Freshman Sara Newman re-directed a cross from Lauren Cutler over the goal line for a 2-0 Pali lead in the 27th minute. Tia Lebherz booted a direct free kick from the top of the penalty area off of the left post and into the net for the Dolphins’ final goal nine minutes into the second half. Verdugo Hills scored on a penalty kick by Roxanne Garcia in the 76th minute. Bailey credited defender Diana Grubb with getting Pali in the right playoff mindset. “We found out we were seeded No. 3 and Diana said ‘Hey, we can win this thing.’ That was a real eye-opener. Now we’re approaching every game like we’re going to win.” Boys Soccer Palisades forward Rafael Martinez scored in the third minute, but fifth-seeded San Pedro responded with four unanswered goals to win 4-1 last Thursday and deal the Dolphins their 11th first-round playoff loss in the last 12 seasons. “We were only down 2-1 at halftime but were a good team and they turned it up in the second half,” PaliHi senior Kevin Seto said. Palisades was seeded 28th out of 32 playoff teams and finished 5-6-3. Girls Basketball Pali coach Kevin Hall thought his team belonged in the City Invitational playoffs, not the championship division. Sure enough, the young and inexperienced Dolphins’ first-round game at Crenshaw proved to be a mismatch. The second-seeded Cougars capitalized on numerous Pali mistakes and missed free throws to build a 12-point halftime lead, then used a 20-4 run midway through the second half to take command en route to a 78-35 victory. Seeded 15th out of 16 teams, the Dolphins finished 11-12. Boys Basketball D’Andre Bell had 22 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, Carl Robertson had 12 points and four assists and Jared Cooper added nine points for the 11th-seeded Dolphins, who lost to fifth-seeded Crenshaw 79-52 last Friday night in the first round of the City playoffs. “Whatever I scored wasn’t enough because we didn’t win,” Bell said. “There are some positives we can take from this season but overall it was only satisfactory. It was a ‘C.'” The host Cougars (18-6) built a 35-22 halftime lead that proved more than Palisades (15-10) could overcome. “We dug a hole for ourselves that we just couldn’t get out of,” point guard Corey Counts said.
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