Boys’ Basketball Bounced by Birmingham

Expectations are always high for Coach James Paleno and the Palisades High boys’ varsity basketball team. The Dolphins were hoping to reach the semifinals of the City Section Division I playoffs and qualify for the state tournament, but those aspirations will be put on hold for another year after their shocking 90-86 overtime loss to Birmingham in the first round last Friday night. “This idea of ‘I’ll give you two points to get three’ is for the birds,” said Paleno, also the boys’ golf coach, who now has to shift his focus to that sport a little earlier than he expected. “Defense has been the problem all season and it was again. We didn’t move our feet, we didn’t take charges and we didn’t work for good position on rebounds.” Sahdi Odu scored the winning basket on a tip-in and fellow senior Sedreth Gillespie sank two clinching free throws with five seconds left in overtime for Birmingham, which came into the playoffs having lost four straight West Valley League games. Almost lost in his team’s defeat was the offensive show put on by wing Garrett Nevels, who made four three-pointers and finished with 38 points for the Dolphins, including all seven of Palisades’ points in overtime. Kenneth Towner had 14 points, Adam Griffin scored 10 and Rico Matheney added nine. “Garrett should make first-team All-City,” Paleno said. “He’s that good.” Despite their problems on the defensive end, the Dolphins did whatever they wanted on offense, especially in the first half. No. 6-seeded Palisades (19-9) started fast, built a 13-point lead midway through the second quarter and took a 43-35 advantage into halftime. Providing a spark off the bench for the 11th-seeded Patriots (15-11) was Corey Randall, who played for Palisades’ sophomore squad last season. Randall hit a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter, the second giving Birmingham a 52-48 lead. The teams traded baskets from then until the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter. “Sure, we were scoring but it’s hard to build a lead if you keep giving up points at the other end of the court,” Paleno said. Guard Rene Reyes made a running floater to tie the score 79-79 with two seconds left in regulation. Angel Gutierrez had 23 points and Gillespie added 20 for Birmingham, which moved on to play at third-seeded Crenshaw in the quarterfinals Wednesday. “The disappointing thing is that we never once this season played with defensive intensity for the full 32 minutes,” Paleno said. “Kudos to them [Birmingham]. They came out here and beat us on our own floor.” Girls’ Basketball If anyone had told him beforehand his team would only be down by two points to Narbonne heading into the fourth quarter of last Thursday night’s City Section Division I playoff opener, Palisades Coach Torino Johnson gladly would have taken that scenario. “I was happy with where we were at and I thought we were in a great position to win’it just didn’t happen,” Johnson said. “We made too many costly mistakes early on and, in the end, they are what cost us the game.” The fourth-seeded Gauchos (20-9) outscored Palisades 8-0 in the final eight minutes for a tightly-contested 47-37 victory that ended the season for the Dolphins (6-21), who were dealt the unlucky No. 13 seed after having to forfeit nine games for using an ineligible player. “We came at them strong and I think they were a little surprised by that,” forward Nicole Flyer said. “It’s very disappointing to lose but overall we learned a lot this season.” Although center Donae Moguel was force in the key for Palisades she was unable to convert at the foul line, missing 10 of 13 free throws, including all five of her attempts in the first quarter. Point guard Ashlie Bruner added 13 points and Skai Thompson had five for the Dolphins. sports@palipost.com