Dolphins Get Revenge on Hamilton

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

When it comes to girls basketball, no rivalry in the Western League has been more intense the last five seasons than that between Palisades and Hamilton.   

For the second time in six days the teams clashed  last Thursday in the Dolphins gym and the home team escaped with a 44-40 victory thanks to clutch free throws in the fourth quarter by twins Taylor and Elise Arnold and another by fellow senior Brooke Shibata that sealed the deal with 2.6 seconds left.

After falling behind by 20 points in the first half  before limiting the Yankees to one point in the fourth quarter of a 49-39 defeat in the teams’ first league encounter Jan. 20, the Dolphins got off to a much better start in the rematch. They led by two at halftime and carried a 27-26 lead into the final eight minutes, but the visitors pulled ahead 40-39 with 1:11 remaining.

Elise Arnold sank a pair of free throws to vault her team back in front with 41 seconds left and swished two more from the foul line to push Palisades’ lead to 43-40 with 14 ticks left. Hamilton missed a three-pointer and Shibata was fouled intentionally. She calmly hit the first of two from the charity stripe and with that Palisades climbed into a tie for second place in league. However, Hamilton got upset by LACES on Monday,  dropping into a third-place tie with the Unicorns with two games left. Westchester (10-0) has clinched first.  Victories in its final two games at LACES and Fairfax would wrap up second for Palisades (7-3), which is vying for a berth in the City Open Division playoffs.

Elise Arnold had 15 points and six rebounds against Hamilton, Shibata had 12 points and Taylor Arnold added 10 points and nine rebounds. Kinidi Curl scored 30 for Hamilton, which lost in the Open Division finals to Palisades in 2020 and 2021.

Shibata led the charge with 12 points while fellow 12th-grader Nicole Mansouri added seven points in a 40-14 rout of Venice last Friday on Senior Night.