Dolphins off to Promising Start: Pali High Boys Basketball Finishes 2-2 to Take Seventh Place at Rose City Round Ball Classic in Pasadena

By STEVE GALLUZZO| Sports Editor

Although he knows his team is still a work in progress, Palisades High boys basketball coach Donzell Hayes has reason to be optmistic about the season ahead after watching the Dolphins go 2-2 to take seventh place last week at the Rose City Round Ball Classic in Pasadena.

Palisades surprised Crowley of Texas early, jumping ahead 16-2 on its way to a wire-to-wire  63-43 win in its first game, setting up a quarterfinal matchup against Western League rival and perennial City Section power Fairfax.

The game was tied 10-10 after the first quarter and the Lions led only 26-20 at halftime before pulling away for a 60-40 victory at Maranatha High.

Dayne Downey led the Dolphins with 10 points, Nick Kerkorian added nine, Daniel Emein  had eight, Jeron Artest had six, Michael Spencer had five and  Anthony Spencer added two.

“Missing shots is mostly what it was,” Kerkorian said. “We did a good job of breaking their press in the first half. We got good looks, they just weren’t going down. We saw Fairfax and they saw us, so I don’t see it as an advantage for either team next time we play them.”

Palisades lost a tough game to Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Montebello 68-65 in a fifth-place semifinal last Friday before rebounding to defeat Renaissance Academy from Altadena 64-44 in the seventh-place game Saturday.

“We were all excited for that first game against Crowley,” Kerkorian said. “We were underestimated a little. Everyone is more experienced and we have multiple players who can score.”

Hayes piloted the Dolphins to a 12-17 record and fifth place in league as interim head coach last season before being promoted to head coach in August. The 1996 Pali High graduate is just the fourth head coach at his alma mater and his expectations are high.

“We don’t lose, we learn,” Hayes said after the Fairfax game. “These kids are smart, they don’t forget. The chemistry is different.  We have seniors who have been playing together a long time and they’re all friends. Last year, we relied a lot on [All-City guard] Will Johnson. This year, no one’s taking a back seat when it comes to scoring. Whoever is open has the green light to shoot. Playing them early doesn’t matter. We knew we were going to see them in league and we’re fully prepared. It’s going to be fun.”

On Monday, the Dolphins  traveled up the road to University to take on winless Cleveland in the first round of the Jim Nakabara Classic.

Palisades’ offense was clicking on all cylinders from the opening tip, as the Dolphins sprinted to a 24-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Cavaliers used a 9-0 run at the start of the second quarter to creep closer but   still trailed 33-20 at halftime. It was all Palisades in the final two quarters as the Dolphins pulled away for a 69-39 win.

Downey again led the way with 20 points, Emein had 11, Michael Spencer had 10, Chris Kurihara had eight, Anthony Spencer had 6, Kerkorian had five and Dylan Griffin, Diego Malczynski and Kevin Eng each added a basket.

“That first tournament showed us we’re not the best but I love playing the best teams,” said Downey,  a senior in his second season at Palisades since transferring from Oaks Christian. “We have a tendency to play down to weaker opponents but play up to better teams. Overall, the locker room is a lot better. Not as many bad attitudes. We rally around each other more. The thing we need to work on most is consistency. We have spurts where we go on 18 or 20-point runs, but we also have periods where we don’t play as well.”

Palisades played North Hollywood on Tuesday and wraps up pool play today at 5:30 p.m. against View Park Prep. The championship game is Friday at 7:30 p.m. Lurking in the other pool is league rival University, which entered the tournament undefeated.