Court Craft

Palisades High Basketball Teams Advance to CIF Southern California Regional Division III Semifinals 

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Five years ago, the Palisades High girls basketball team was on the brink of history but never got a chance to make it. The Dolphins were SoCal Regional champions and all set to face Oakland Tech for the CIF Division II state championship in Sacramento. However, the finals were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, leaving coach Adam Levine and his team to ponder what might have been.    

This winter, the program faced a different but every bit as devastating type of adversity: the Palisades Fire in January, which damaged the campus and left the Dolphins without a gym to play or practice in for the second half of the season. They persevered, made the City Open Division playoffs, and reached the semifinals. Then, when the regional brackets were released, they found themselves seeded No. 1 in Division III and with a fresh opportunity to reach the state finals.

Hoping to author a storybook ending to their challenging season, the Dolphins began their quest to become the school’s first basketball state titleists with a 59-45 victory over 16th-seeded El Toro last Tuesday  at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa­­, which served as their “home away from home” throughout the tournament. Sincere Aubrey led the charge with 25 points and Elly Tierney contributed 16 as Palisades was in control from the opening tip. Two nights later, the Dolphins took on El Cajon Christian in the quarterfinals and this time Tierney and Alyssa Ramirez each scored 30 points and Ayla Teegardin, whose home in the Via Bluffs burned down in the Palisades Fire, added 10 in a 76-56 win.

On Saturday, the Dolphins’ opponent was fifth-seeded Mater Dei of Chula Vista and the Crusaders overcame a five-point halftime deficit to forge a two-point lead in the final seconds. Palisades got the ball in the hands of its season leading scorer for one final possession. Tierney drove the lane and her layup rolled around the rim and off. Players on both teams battled for the rebound but no one could control it before the buzzer sounded and Mater Dei escaped with a 57-55 victory. Tierney scored 18 points and Aubrey hsd eight as the Dolphins finished 17-16.

Meanwhile, the Pali High boys team was also seeded No. 1 in Division III for regionals after winding up second place in league and losing to top-seeded Chatsworth in the semifinals of the City Open Division bracket under first-year coach Jeff Bryant.            

In the first game of last Tuesday’s boys-girls doubleheader, Bryant’s squad ran 16th-seeded Righetti off the floor 82-50 behind 18 points from Tommy Pickens and 12 apiece from Eli Levi and Kye Davis. Mo Butler and Julian Cunningham each added 10 for the Dolphins, who carried a commanding 40-19 lead to the locker room.

On Thursday, the boys played after the girls in the quarterfinal round and Palisades was hot from the start against eighth-seeded Bakersfield North. The Dolphins made eight three-pointers in the first quarter, four of them by Pickens­, to take a 28-17 lead and the gap grew to 14 points by halftime. Pickens finished with 17 and Davis had nine to offset an 18-point effort by the Stars’ Wyatt Haner.

On Saturday, the boys capped the doubleheader by seeking to avenge the girls’ loss just before and sophomore guard Jack Levey’s long-range shooting kept the Dolphins close to fifth-seeded San Gabriel Academy.At intermission, Palisades trailed 31-26 as both teams had players in foul trouble. The Eagles extended their lead to 10 going into the fourth quarter and an 8-0 run with five minutes left put victory out of reach for the home team. Levey finished with 17 points while Davis added 11 as the Dolphins’ season ended in a 63-45 loss. They finished 21-12 after their deepest state run since reaching the Division IV regional finals in 2020 under coach Donzell Hayes when they beat Bakersfield Independence, San Ysidro and St. Pius X before falling to Bakersfield Christian. The only Palisades team to play for a state hoops title was the 1998-99 girls squad (coached by Kevin Hall) that lost to Archbishop Mitty 49-48 in the Division I final at Arco Arena.