Dolphins Win League Opener

Boys basketball stifles rival Venice in first game back from winter vacation

Although both had busy tournament schedules over Winter Break the Palisades High boys’ and girls’ basketball teams returned to action Monday anxious to begin the second half of their seasons with victories. Both succeeded. Seventeen games in three and a half weeks gave his young team some valuable experience, but boys coach James Paleno would have preferred a few more practice days–or at least one–before the Dolphins’ Western League opener at Venice. Paleno need not have worried, however. Palisades easily dispatched the host Gondoliers, 75-47, stretching a 37-25 halftime lead to a 27-point bulge by the end of the third quarter. The scorebook read like a coach’s dream–six players in double figures and five with six or more rebounds. The result was impressive given Palisades’ 55-43 win over the same team two weeks before. “Practice makes perfect–or I should say perfect practice makes perfect,” said junior forward Kenneth Towner, who scored 11 points against Venice. “It gives us time to work on specific things, things we can then take to the games. We know we have Fairfax and Westchester coming up next week so we want to be playing well. Against those teams we’ll need to make our open jump shots and our free throws.” Moments after Monday’s post-game talk Palisades players had already turned their attention to Wednesday’s opponent–University–and a chance to avenge a three-point loss at the San Fernando Valley Invitational. “It’s kind of hard not to underestimate a team you’ve already beaten but our coaches remind us all the time that you can’t do that,” senior captain Aaron Fitts said. “It won’t be hard to get up for Uni, though. We look at this as payback. It’s redemption time. Everybody has to come ready to play.” Still without point guard Lebre Merritt, who has been out with an injury since the Beverly Hills Tournament, the Dolphins had the were led by Fitts (17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, four steals), Garrett Nevels (16 points, six rebounds, three steals), Rico Matheney (11 points, eight rebounds), Adam Griffin (10 points) and Sam Stapleton (seven assists, four steals). “I’m happy to be 1-0 in league but we still need to work on our execution,” Paleno said. “We talked at halftime about improving our transition defense and Venice opens the third quarter with two fast-break baskets. Little things like that we need to fix.” Palisades (12-6 overall, 1-0 in league) travels to LACES on Friday and hosts perennial state power Westchester next Wednesday night. * * * * Protecting home court is one thing Coach Torino Johnson emphasized going into the season and so far his Dolphins are undefeated in league at the Palisades gym. Monday’s game resulted in a 61-51 victory, improving the Dolphins to 12-5 overall and 2-1 against league rivals. Center Dominique Scott had a monster game, pouring in 30 points (including 10 of 17 from the free throw line) and adding 14 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals. Scott leads the team with an average of 16.3 points per game. Sophomore guard Kanoko Ishahara had 11 points, senior forward Katie Bell had nine points and senior guard Utopia Kates added six points and four steals. Sophomore forward Nicole Flyer made five blocks as the Dolphins built a 27-24 halftime lead, then gradually pulled away in the final two quarters. Palisades needs only five more victories to match last year’s total and the Dolphins can move even closer with a victory over visiting LACES on Friday.