James Paleno Notches 300th Win

December 3, 2007 marked a milestone in the career of former Palisades High boys basketball coach James Paleno. It was 13 years ago today that he began his 17th season at the helm with victory No. 300, a 70-53 triumph over Hoover of Glendale. “That was one of the questions on a tournament information sheet I had to fill out and I had no idea so I went back and counted,” Paleno said at the time. “That number just means I’ve been doing this [coachingI for a long time.” The victory improved Paleno’s record to 300 wins and 136 losses—a .688 winning percentage. As only the second head coach in the program’s history, Paleno remembered thinking he had big shoes to fill when he took over for Jerry Marvin in 1991. Marvin had piloted the program to its first City title in 1969, but Paleno took the reins and kept Palisades at a level his predecessor would be proud of. The team finished the 2007-08 season 24-7 and third in the Western League. He would go on to coach the squad for five more seasons until resigning in June 2013, citing a lack of administrative support. In Paleno’s 22 seasons he led the Dolphins to a 416-172 record and three Western League championships. He remained at Pali High as a special education teacher and the boys golf coach and also reinstated the girls golf program, which captured its fourth straight Western League crown last November. Paleno started teaching at Pali High in 1981 and joined Marvin’s staff as an assistant coach in 1983. He remained an assistant at Palisades for all but the 1989-90 season, when he coached at Santa Monica College while still teaching at Palisades. In his final season, Paleno guided the Dolphins to the City semifinals, where they lost to league rival Westchester. Then, in the state playoffs, the Dolphins upset Mission Viejo on the road before falling in overtime to Santa Monica, the eventual Division I runner up. Palisades finished the 2012-13 campaign wih a 23-10 record (10-2 in league play) and beat league rival Fairfax three times, twice in the regular season and again in the City quarterfinals. He was succeeded by one of his former players, Vejas Anaya.