Dolphins’ Basketball & Soccer Squads Start Seasons with Well-Defined Goals

Girls Basketball New coach Torino Johnson said his goal is to raise expectations for a program that reached its pinnacle in 1999 when it advanced to the state championship game in Sacramento. His first objective is to win the league championship, which would automatically take care of his second objective’qualifying for the City’s upper division playoffs. To return the Dolphins to their glory years of the late ’90s, Johnson has beefed up the schedule, starting with Palisades’ own Beach Invitational this week. He also has the team slated to play in the Nike and Best of the West tournaments prior to the start of league play. Johnson said the Dolphins are an older group but not necessarily experienced. Key returners include senior point guard Mariah Lyons, senior forward Tuekeha Huntley, junior guard Utopia Kates and junior forward Cinthia Hernandez. Center Dominique Scott will be a factor around the basket under Torino’s system, which stresses being disciplined and physical in the paint. The Dolphins’ varsity roster does not include a single underclassman, but includes three six-footers in Scott (6′ 2′), Huntley (6′ 0′) and junior post player Katie Bell (6′ 1′). The Palisades Beach Invitational has expanded from eight to 16 teams this year and Torino changed the format from pool play to bracket play, meaning teams must keep winning to advance to the finals. The Dolphins opened against Panorama on Wednesday (result unavailable at press time) and play either L.A. Jordan or Crossroads tonight at 7 p.m. Boys Basketball If any team in the City Section seems capable of challenging the ‘Big Three’ of Taft, Westchester and Fairfax, it is the Dolphins, who have 10 seniors and will look to improve upon last season’s 19-10 mark which saw Palisades fall one win short of a berth in the state playoffs. Point guard Taylor Shipley, a three-year starter, and guard Aaron Hawk-Harris, who made All-City last year despite missing half the season, will lead a Dolphins’ attack that also features hustling guard Brandon Greer and slick-shooting forward Irvin Kintaudi. As always, the Dolphins face a daunting schedule, beginning with four tough tournaments’Campbell Hall, Beverly Hills, San Fernando and Santa Barbara’and a nonleague game against Washington thrown in for good measure. Coach James Paleno, who began his 17th season one victory shy of 300, said the strength of his team is its work ethic and chemistry. His players have been in the program him for three or four years and know what to expect. Palisades is ranked No. 25 in Southern California in at least one poll and Paleno said that because of that other teams will be looking to knock them off. The Dolphins must win by out-executing and out-smarting their opponents. Over the summer, Palisades played and beat perennial powers Fremont and Loyola and lost by only two points to Westchester. The Dolphins played Hoover in the first round of the Campbell Hall Tournament on Wednesday (result unavailable at press time) and play West Adams Prep tonight at 6 p.m. and Arleta on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Girls Soccer The Dolphins won the City Invitational title at East L.A. College last season and are gunning for a repeat of sorts’except this time it is the City Championship they are after. Returning to lead Palisades’ attack are forwards Kelly Mickel, Rachel Furhman and Kate Rosenbaum’all of whom scored clutch goals in the playoffs. Though the squad loses three key players to graduation’defender Sarah McNees and forwards Sara Newman and Lauren Pugatch’it returns sophomore Erika Martin and junior Laura Goldsmith. Coach Kim Smith, who guided the Dolphins to the City finals three years ago, has been holding rigorous practices on the new field at Stadium by the Sea, preparing her girls for a run at the Western League title that eluded them in 2006. A stat the Dolphins will look to improve upon is turning ties into victories. Palisades lost only one league game a year ago yet finished third in the standings because of five ties. Once again keeping opposing strikers at bay will be goalie Allison Kappeyne, who posted eight shutouts last year, aided by defenders Brittany Johnson and Jazmyn Anderson. Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies was added to the Western League last season, joining Palisades, Westchester, Venice, L.A. Hamilton, L.A. University and Fairfax. Nonleague games looming early on Palisades’ schedule are Marymount and Notre Dame Academy, who play in the Southern Section’s Sunshine League. Boys Soccer The challenge facing Palisades will be finding a way to replace last year’s leading scorer Osbaldo Garcia, who netted 16 goals and added nine assists. Coach Dave Williams said the Dolphins may not quite have a player of Garcia’s unique ability, but may have four or five that are just a notch below. Senior striker David Linares and sophomore Alex Smith could emerge as potent scorers in the Dolphins’ offense, which could hinge on the continuing progress of center midfielder Sebastian Diaz and outside midfielder Michael Rey. Anchoring the defense will be senior sweeper and team captain Eric Rosen and goalie Charlie Bailey. The Dolphins also hope to reverse a disturbing trend: they have lost in the first round of the City playoffs 12 times in the previous 14 seasons, including a 3-2 overtime loss to Washington last year. Williams sees no reason his squad cannot win 10 league games, which would likely be enough to finish first and secure a high postseason seed. The team he is most concerned about is Fairfax, which has most of its players returning. With 46 players between varsity and JV, the question for Palisades will be whether increased numbers equate to a higher retention rate come grade time. Palisades opens the season today at Stadium by the Sea against San Pedro (varsity kickoff at 2:30 p.m.) and also hosts a intersectional game against Santa Monica December 7.

The Palisades Pirates, a local U-11 baseball team, won five games over Thanksgiving weekend to capture first place at the Mid-Valley Gobbler Tournament. Under the guidance of coaches Pat Vastano and Rick McGeagh, the Pirates gobbled up the opposition, finishing undefeated with 37 runs scored to just 11 allowed. In Friday morning’s opening round, the Pirates defeated the Toluca Titans, 6-4, thanks to the pitching of Matt Kassowitz and Ezra Steinberg, accurate throws to the plate by Cade Hulse and Cameron Kao and aggressive baserunning by Hulse, Kassowitz, Jack McGeagh and Bryant Falconello that led to several runs. On Saturday, the Pirates routed the San Fernando Blackhawks, 13-1, in the morning game and, in the second game of their doubleheader, ousted the Conejo Crush, 6-2. Pitchers Jed Moscot and Tony Rogari combined for the win over San Fernando, with clean-up hitter Steinberg getting several clutch hits and Hulse clearing the outfield fence for a home run. Zack Dufour, Matt McGeagh and Rogari combined to pitch the Pirates to victory over the Crush. Jed Moscot, Falconello and the McGeagh brothers led the offense with multiple hits and RBIs. The Pirates opened the playoffs Sunday morning with a 8-1 victory over the San Fernando Valley Cats. Steinberg had three hits while pitchers Kao, Blumenfeld and Kassowitz made the Pirates’ early lead stand up. Sunday afternoon’s final was a mere formality for the Palisades squad, which triumphed, 14-3, over the Valley Wolves. Solid pitching performances by Kassowitz and Steinberg, coupled with three hits each by Steinberg and Matt McGeagh and two apiece by Michael Vastano (two RBIs), Kassowitz (3 RBIs) and Dalton Blumenfeld (RBI) put the Wolves away early. “We had four outfield assists on strong throws to the plate to cut down a runner, with Bryant Falconello puting on a fielding clinic at third base and Ezra Steinberg with a circus catch in center,” Pat Vastano said. “We made very few errors all weekend. I couldn’t be happier with the way this team played in the tournament. We went 5-0 and won the championship. Can’t ask for more than that.”

Taylor Slutzker, Shelby Slutzker and Rachel Weston of Calvary Christian School and Hayley McCormack of Corpus Christi combined to win 11 state gymnastic titles at the California State Championships held in San Diego, Glendora and Santa Barbara. Taylor Slutzker won the state title for the balance beam, floor exercise and all-around at Level 5 while Weston placed first in the floor exercise and was second in the all-around competition. Both girls helped Broadway Gymnastics win the Level 5 team championship, finishing first out of more than 90 programs statewide. McCormack won the uneven bars and placed second all-around at Level 4. Earlier this year, Shelby Slutzker took first place in the balance beam, floor exercise, vault and all-around at Level 7. The Level 5 title was Broadway’s second team title ever. Its first championship came two years ago in Level 4. Weston has been a member of both state championship teams. This upcoming season McCormack will compete at Level 5, Taylor Slutzker will move up to Level 6, Weston will move up to Level 7 and Rachel to level 7 and Shelby Slutzker will move up to to Level 8.

Nine top junior boys from the Palisades Tennis Center spent their Thanksgiving breaks in hotel rooms and on tennis courts, grinding out points against the nation’s best players. The USTA Junior Nationals took place in four locations across the country: Florida, Georgia, New York and Dana Point, California. Regions consisted of 64 players (each having qualified by virtue of their national ranking). The California region included a field of players from New York, Florida, Texas, Utah, Illinois, Nevada, Arizona, Washington and Pennsylvania. PTC players excelled in the double elimination event, compiling a 28-18 record against a field full of opponents ranked in the top 200 in the nation in their age groups. Leading the way in the boys 12s was Robbie Bellamy, who beat three fellow Californians as well as players from Texas and Nevada. His biggest win came against Yannik Mahlangu of Henderson, Nevada, who is ranked No. 32 in the nation. Bellamy won a third-set tiebreaker, 11-9. His match against Alejandro Llamas of El Paso, Texas, was even closer. Bellamy squandered seven match points then staved off two himself before prevailing, 15-13, in a third-set tiebreaker. PTC players Eduardo Nava and Alex Giannini each won two matches. Nava took out the nation’s No. 68-ranked player Hayden Sabatka of Littleton, Colorado, 7-5, in another third-set tiebreaker. Meanwhile, Giannini eliminated the No. 4 seed in straight sets. In the boys 18s, PTC players dominated the draw, as five players won at least two matches. Walker Kehrer won five matches, beating two players from Florida, two from California and one from Pennsylvania. Daniel Moss and Clay Thompson each won four sets. Moss, who has accepted a spot on the Pepperdine men’s team next year, beat the 31st-ranked player in the nation in straight sets while Thompson rolled over Davis Mangham of Seattle Washington, ranked No. 59 in the nation, 6-2, 6-1. Thompson, who just turned 15, typically plays opponents three years older than him. Also in the boys 18s, PTC product Alex Sohaili had wins over players from Utah, Florida and California and Reece Milner had two wins over players from Northern California. Milner will play at the University of Virginia next year. ‘I am just stunned at the results of these kids who play everyday at a little public park,’ PTC Head Pro Chris Harradine said. ‘These nine are shining today but we have 50 more kids who are hard on their heels. It’s a blast being a part of all of this.’

Five girls from Pacific Palisades left home this summer hoping to find playing time as freshmen in major college volleyball programs and all managed to succeed. Audrey Eichler, a middle blocker out of Harvard-Westlake High, stepped right into the starting lineup at Boston College, playing every match for the Eagles and finishing second on the team in kills (285) and hitting percentage (.258). Her agility also led to 90 blocks, 61 digs and 22 service aces for BC in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Kelly Irvin of Marymount High, a club teammate of Eichler’s on Gene’s Team, committed to the University of Virginia and won the starting setter position, leading the squad with 1,061 assists, 76 kills, 282 digs, 27 aces and 31 blocks while also playing in the tough ACC. Defensive specialist Ali Hoffman had 194 digs and 11 aces in 49 games for Washington University in St. Louis, helping her team win the NCAA Division III Championship. Hoffman played for Marymount High and for Sports Shack?s 18-1s club team. Kaitlin Segal attended Bucknell, which competes in the Patriot League. She played in 97 games as an outside hitter and was credited with 194 kills with a .182 hitting percentage. She also had 33 aces, 33 blocks, 34 assists and 184 digs. She, too, played for Sports Shack?s 18-1?s team. Libero Madison Wojciechowski played more games than any other player at the University of Pennsylvania, breaking the Quakers? all-time single-season record with 457 digs. She had 34 digs in a match (second most ever at Penn) and 32 digs in another match (fourth most) to go along with 21 aces and 32 assists. Penn finished runner-up to Princeton in the Ivy League. Wojciechowski also played on Sports Shack?s 18-1’s team.