Girls Hoops Ready for Fairfax

Minutes after the boys’ varsity basketball game ended Monday evening, girls varsity coach Torino Johnson walked off the bus in front of the Dolphins’ gym with a smile on his face. Sure, he was happy to find out the boys had won but he was even more excited that his own team had just put forth one of its best efforts of the season. Palisades blitzed to a 30-4 halftime lead on its way to clobbering host Hamilton, 50-21, heading into Wednesday’s showdown with first-place Fairfax. “That wasn’t a run-up, it was a pull back,” Torino said when Pali athletic director Rich Mckeon teased him about running up the score. “Our defense was extraordinary today.” Junior Dominique Scott led the Dolphins with 17 points and 21 rebounds. Johnson predicted Scott we be an All-American. He also predicted a close game against the Lions, who edged Palisades by six points in the first round of league. “Fairfax is scrappy and forces you into making mistakes but I think we match up well,” Johnson said. “Someone’s gotta’ beat ’em so it might as well be us.”