Hoop Squads Split League Games

The Palisades High boys and girls varsity basketball teams opened Western League play in similar fashion last week, losing to Westchester on Wednesday and beating Hamilton on Friday. The girls hosted the Comets with hopes of upsetting the league’s perennial power, but it was clear from the opening tip that Westchester was the faster team. The Comets never trailed in a 67-43 victory that could have been much worse. Westchester scored the first eight points and held the Dolphins without a point for the first 2:17, when junior guard/forward Zedra Slaton finally got Palisades on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws. Westchester outhustled the Dolphins, forcing eight first-quarter turnovers and getting five offensive rebounds on one possession. Westchester missed 11 of its 16 free throw attempts in the first half but still led, 26-16, as the Dolphins were held to two field goals. Sparked by Slaton’s three-pointer, Pali picked up its game in the third quarter but it was too far behind and had accumulated too many fouls to catch up. Rhea Carter, who transferred from Palisades before the start of the season along with her sister, Renee, led Westchester with 17 points. Slaton led Pali with 22 points while junior forward Tylisha Trapp had 10 and junior guard/forward Megan Coulter added five. ‘Some people were scared of them,’ Slaton said of the Comets. ‘We played better in the second half and I’m proud of the way everyone played.’ It would’ve been easy to be down heading into their first league road game, but to their credit the Dolphins battled back from a late deficit to defeat Hamilton, 45-41, last Friday. Pali (6-8 overall, 1-1 in league) outscored the host Yankees, 18-12, in the fourth quarter. Pali hosted University Wednesday afternoon and play at Venice Friday at 4:15 p.m. While the Dolphin girls had a tough time with the Comets at Pali, the boys faced an even greater task: having to compete with a loaded Comets team on its home floor. The result was the Dolphins’ most lopsided loss of the season, 92-35, to one of the top teams in the City Section. For the first time this season, Pali (5-9, 1-1) played in its own gym last Friday and was anything but a gracious host to Hamilton, winning 68-52 for its first league victory. Senior point guard Corey Counts led the Dolphins with 24 points. Palisades played at University yesterday and hosts Venice Friday night. Boys Soccer With almost a month in between its last nonleague game and last Friday’s league opener, the Dolphins showed rust in trying to finish off chances and lost to Hamilton, 2-1, at Stadium by the Sea. Sophomore forward Osbaldo Garcia scored on a header to tie the game late in the first half, but the Yankees regained the lead early in the second half and Palisades (0-1-2, 0-1-0) was unable to answer despite several quality opportunities in the final 10 minutes. Garcia has scored both of the Dolphins’ goals this season, netting the tying goal against Reseda before Winter Break. ‘We should’ve won. They only had two good chances all game but they capitalized,’ Pali’s Ben Tom said. ‘We controlled the game. Especially in the second half. We had a lot of free kicks and corner kicks. We hit the post once. Nothing went our way.’ Palisades will host Westchester in a makeup game on Monday at Stadium by the Sea.