Pali High Hoops Squads Lead League

It was a struggle right to the bitter end, but the Palisades High boys basketball team notched its biggest victory of the season last Friday, turning back visiting Fairfax 64-60 to stay at the top of the Western League standings.

The Dolphins led 45-19 with 6:33 left in the third quarter and appeared to be on their way to a blowout victory, but the Lions closed to within a point, 60-59, with 1:13 left. Then, trailing 62-60 they had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with 16 seconds left, but Brandyn Taylor missed a jump shot and Palisades' Jalon Wilson was fouled with four seconds left. He converted both free throws, finishing 10-of-10 for the game and Palisades hung on to beat Fairfax for the third straight time.

"I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day," Palisades Coach James Paleno said. "This is a game of runs and he [Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani] outcoached me in the second half. We played a tough nonleague schedule to prepare us for games like this."

Five Dolphins scored in double figures. Donovan Johnson had 12 points before fouling out with just under two minutes remaining, Tyler Duke had 11 and Tyler Hildreth, Wilson and Brenden Otero each added 10 for the Dolphins, who built a 41-27 lead by halftime.

A key reason Palisades won was its accuracy at the foul line. The Dolphins made 23 of 29 free throw attempts compared to 20 of 37 for Fairfax (12-6 overall, 4-1 in league).

Palisades remained unblemished in league on Wednesday with a 76-62 home triumph over Hamilton, Paleno's alma mater. The Yankees trailed by only three points at halftime but were outscored 21-4 in the third quarter.

On Friday night, the Dolphins (10-8, 4-0) will travel to defending league champion and City Section Division I finalist Westchester, which won both league meetings with Palisades last season but by a combined total of just eight points.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Palisades Coach Torino Johnson figured Fairfax would be the Dolphins' stiffest challenge in league play and after the Dolphins' 57-45 win last Friday, he still thinks that way.

"I'm extremely happy because what we've been working on in practice is finally carring over to the games," Johnson said. "That's a quality program and they'll be in the mix for the [City] Division I championship. Today was a culmination of fixing the issue we've had since the start of the season—namely turnovers and our post-entry passes."

Point guard Ashlie Bruner led the way with 23 points, 11 assists six steals, three rebounds and one block, center Donae Moguel was a force in the paint with 14 points and eight rebounds and Skai Thompson added 12 points, seven assists and seven steals.

The Dolphins followed their road win over the Lions with a 30-point rout of host Hamilton in which Moguel had 14 points and Bruner had 13. The defending City Division II champion, Palisades (14-5, 4-0) hosts third-place Westchester at 7 p.m. Friday.