With a focus on getting healthy and making the necessary improvements for Western League play, the Palisades High boys basketball team covered both ends of the spectrum last week in finishing fifth at the Oaks Christian Tournament in Thousand Oaks. The Dolphins stormed out of the gates with a 72-31 opening-round rout of Compton Centennial before a harsh wake-up call in a 77-65 loss to Oaks Christian. But they made a swift recovery in rallying to win their two consolation matches, 66-53 over Upland and 48-40 over Sacramento. In the opener, the Dolphins barely broke a sweat in displaying the kind of talent they have at their disposal. Senior Brendan Otero paced the club with 16 points, one of four scorers in double figures. ‘This was the first time we’ve had a full compliment of players,’ head coach James Paleno said after the first game. ‘This was [senior] Donovan Johnson’s (13 points) first game back. We’ve had a lot of guys dinged up, so moving forward we want to get healthy and learn to play together.’ Juniors Ammar Rehman and Tyler Hildreth contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively, as PaliHi led Centennial 20-8 after one quarter, 40-14 at half, and 59-22 after three. ‘We shared the ball well,’ said Paleno. ‘We’ve just got to constantly get better and that’s why we’re playing in this tournament. PaliHi may simply have caught Oaks Christian at the wrong time in the second round, as the host school was coming off a 68-51 upset win over previously-undefeated Calabasas. The Lions only led 32-27 at halftime but pulled away with a strong third quarter, extending their margin to 57-44 after three. The Dolphins (6-8) will look to carry the momentum from their ensuing two victories into the new year and the start of Western League play. After a home game tomorrow evening against Gahr, their first league test comes in the form of a road game against Venice on January 11 at 4 p.m. That will be followed by two home games, January 18 against Hamilton at 5:30 p.m. and January 20 at Westchester at 7 p.m.
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