Pali High Basketball Teams Back in Action After Weeks of Inactivity
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Palisades High girls basketball coach Adam Levine team could not contain his excitement Saturday before the Dolphins’ first game in nearly one month.
The fact that it came against Brentwood School, where he used to be an assistant under Eagles coach Charles Solomon, who is still one of his best friends, was no consolation—Levine wanted to win.
While Palisades was seeing its first action since Winter Break—24 days to be exact—Brentwood had played six times over that stretch, including just two days earlier against Crossroads, and sure enough the Eagles looked like the sharper team early on, leading 27-23 at halftime and 43-39 through three quarters.
However, the Dolphins eventually shook off the rust, took advantage of their size, worked the ball inside to Janelly Portillo and came away with a 57-52 victory that evened their record at 6-6.
Portillo, a senior center, led the way with 21 points and senior guard Demonnie Lagway had 16. Junior forward Taylor Arnold contributed seven points and twin sister Elise added four.
Two days later, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Dolphins were back on the same floor at Serra High in Gardena to take on Hesperia and fell 61-56 despite 21 points from Lagway and 14 more, including four 3-pointers, by senior guard Sydney Meskin.
Palisades resumes Western League play tomorrow at Fairfax and returns home to face Hamilton on Monday and Westchester next Wednesday, a rematch of the Dolphins’ 64-61 triumph December 10 in the first round of league. Palisades has three nonleague games left: Jan. 27 at West Torrance; Feb. 2 at Rosary Academy and a Feb. 5 rematch with Brentwood.
Meanwhile, the Pali High boys varsity team had not played since Dec. 27 before suiting up for a one-day extravaganza Saturday evening against Beverly Hills at Westchester High.
The Dolphins had not been at full strength all winter but finally had Charlie Moore and Niklas Johansson back in the lineup to combat a tall Normans front line. Moore had 16 points, Avery Lee and Drew Kerkorian had 12 apiece and Bowdoin Brazell added 11 for the Dolphins (3-6), who ultimately lost 62-58.
The Western League appears as wide open as it has been in years with six schools in the hunt for the title.
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