Palisades High guard Will Johnson scored a career-high 25 points Tuesday afternoon to lead the Dolphins’ boys basketball team to a 70-67 triumph over Highland in the third place regional consolation game of the inaugural SoCal Christmas Classic at La Salle High in Pasadena.
Junior point guard Shane Williams added 20 points while senior forward Shomari Dunham played a strong defensive game for the Dolphins, who trailed 20-10 after one quarter but pulled away in the fourth against their opponents from Palmdale.
“We have a better record than we did at this time last year,” Pali High Coach Vejas Anaya said. “We were 3-1 at El Segundo, 2-2 at Beverly Hills and 3-2 here. We’re missing some key guys but we’re going with what we’ve got.”
Bishop Montgomery of Torrance defeated Concord De La Salle 61-55 in the championship game.
On Monday, El Camino Real scored the last five points to defeat Palisades 55-50, avenging its 59-53 loss Dec. 6 in the third-place game at the El Segundo Tournament. Joseph Robinson drained a three-pointer to tie it 50-50 with under one minute remaining, but the Conquistadores answered with a three-pointer of their own. Robinson missed a jumper and El Camino Real tacked on two free throws in the final seconds.
“We forced them to take a contested three and they made it,” Anaya said after his team went 3-2 at the inaugural six-day event. “We’ve played some quality opponents — Loyola, Cantwell-Sacred Heart, Brentwood, Price and ECR twice.”
Palisades (9-5) meets Mater Dei Catholic of Chula Vista (7-5) on Jan. 10 at Lincoln High in San Diego and opens Western League play at home Jan. 12 against Hamilton.
— Steve Galluzzo
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