The absence of its best player forced the Palisades High boys varsity basketball team to gel quicker than expected this season. Now that 6-5 senior forward D’Andre Bell has returned to the lineup, it will take time for his teammates to get used to playing with him again. But the Dolphins took a huge step towards finding the scoring balance coach James Paleno wants in last Friday night’s 66-56 victory over archrival Venice. Bell is still working his way back into shape after missing the first half of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot, but he finished with 12 points while point guard Corey Counts had 15 points and five assists and Carl Robertson contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. ‘It’s hard to lose someone like D’Andre and not have it hurt you in terms of scoring,’ Paleno said. ‘But in his absence other guys have had to step up and they will have to keep doing that because D’Andre still is not 00 percent. We haven’t broken 70 points all year.’ Bell, who has signed with Georgia Tech, averaged 25.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists last season. He put the game away with a steal and a fast-break layup that gave Pali a 61-53 lead with 1:23 left. Palisades (7-9 overall, 3-1 in league) played defending Division I state champion Fairfax (14-3, 3-1) Wednesday and hosts Westchester (10-2, 4-0), one of the top-ranked teams in California, Friday night at 7 p.m. Girls Basketball The Dolphins were unable to hold a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of a 47-44 loss at Venice last Friday. Ivory Blockmon scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half for the Gondos (10-5, 3-1). ‘It was a tough loss,’ head coach Ronda Crowley said. ‘But we have to forget it and move onto the next game.’ Palisades (8-9, 2-2) bounced back in an intersectional game game Saturday at the Dolphins’ gymnasium, routing St. Monica, 48-31.
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