Gaining Respect

Pali High Basketball Battles View Park to Final Buzzer in City Division I Quarterfinals

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Moments after the final buzzer sounded, View Park boys basketball coach Jason Porter gave his Palisades counterpart Donzell Hayes a handshake near midcourt, relieved that his Knights were still alive in the City Section Division I tournament.

The Dolphins may have lost the quarterfinal contest 44-39, but they earned respect by pushing the No. 1-seeded team to the brink of elimination with a roster that included seven sophomores. Indeed,  the boys in black did not merely show up to compete, they wanted—and expected—to win.

“As a competitor I’ll never think a losing season is a positive, but our record doesn’t say everything,” sophomore guard Anthony Spencer said after scoring eight points and dishing out three assists. “We played tough teams.”   

Ninth-seeded Palisades (9-19) had View Park on the ropes early, building a 22-14 halftime lead, but didn’t deliver the knockout blow.

“We’ve been notorious for bad third quarters all season and it happened again,” Hayes said after his team got outscored 17-7 to fall behind by two points entering the final eight minutes. “In the playoffs, you have to get in the bonus—that’s the difference.”   

The Knights, who were second behind Crenshaw in the Coliseum League, took their first lead, 25-24, in the middle of an 11-0 run in the third quarter. Spencer ended the Dolphins’ long drought with a layup, Nick Kerkorian got airborne to block a dunk attempt by View Park forward De’Shawn Johnson, and Avi Massaband hit a three-pointer to tie it 29-29.   

Palisades finished fifth in the Western League, but stunned eighth-seeded Dorsey in the first round of the playoffs and trailed by seven with 3:35 left against the Knights. Will Janney swished a three-pointer from the top of the arc, then a steal by Kerkorian led to a fast-break layup by Spencer to pull the Dolphins within 38-36.

Johnson’s running bank shot put View Park on top 40-36 with 29 seconds left. After Cole Jacobs missed a three-pointer, Christian Johnson was fouled and sank both free throws to make it a six-point margin, but Jacobs’ three-pointer pulled the Dolphins within three. Palisades was unable to steal the inbounds pass and Christian Johnson was fouled with 1.3 seconds remaining. He made both shots and ironically the Palisades boys’  season ended where the Palisades girls’ season began—at St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood.

“We didn’t run our press break enough,” said Kerkorian, who had nine points and three assists. “The  way they play is similar to Dorsey, only their defense is better.”

Janney had seven points, Ryan Hinton had four blocks and Graham Alphson added seven rebounds and three blocks.