Dolphin Hoop Squads Rebound

At the start of the season, Palisades High girls varsity basketball coach Kevin Hall was unsure what he had. The team had potential, but without a single senior it was also very inexperienced. Halfway through the league schedule, Hall and his team have a better sense of identity, especially after back-to-back victories over Hamilton and University last week that improved the Dolphins’ record to 6-7 overall (2-2 in the Western League) and bolstered the players’ confidence. “We’re doing all right considering we only have eight girls on varsity and nine of them are freshmen or sophomores,” Hall said. “They’ve been working hard in practice and the last game was probably one of the best they’ve played to this point.” Sophomore forward Megan Coulter scored 19 points, junior center Jasmine English had 10 points and 13 rebounds, freshman guard Elane Roepke had nine points and sophomore guard Krystle Evans added eight points in the Dolphins’ 51-32 rout of University last Friday. Evans made the first free throw with two seconds left in Pali’s 37-35 win over Hamilton last Wednesday and intentionally missed the second attempt to allow the clock to run out. “We were ahead all game but they caught us and passed in the fourth quarter,” Hall said. “We were able to get a few baskets and two key stops at the end.” The two victories lessened the sting of losses to league co-favorites Westchester (58-51) and Fairfax (63-31) the previous week. With such a thin bench, Hall has freshmen Kristina Villamil, Michelle Kamrany and Sarah Fukui in and out of the lineup as game and foul situations dictate. Sophomore Mariela Dominguez has provided steady play at forward..

Like the girls squad, PaliHi’s boys varsity team evened its league record with a pair of victories after losing its first two league games to Fairfax (67-50) and Westchester (84-51), two of the top-ranked teams in California. Corey Counts scored 25 points in the Dolphins’ 57-32 victory at University last Friday that improved Pali to 11-7 overall and 2-2 in league. D’Andre Bell had 31 points in Pali’s 73-54 victory over Hamilton last Wednesday.

After winning its most important game of the season last Friday, a 3-2 victory over Venice, the Dolphins were off their game throughout a 2-0 loss to Fairfax Monday at Stadium by the Sea. “We’ve put ourselves in a position where we basically can’t afford more than one more loss if we want to make the playoffs,” PaliHi head coach Dave Williams said. “We pretty much have to win every game.” Against the Lions (3-2 in league), Pali controlled play in the first half but failed to score. The second half was all Fairfax. Christopher Orozco scored both goals, the first after a long run and centering pass by Kleber Ortiz in the 56th minute and the second on a breakaway in the 77th minute on a play that looked to be offside. Palisades (2-5-2 overall, 1-3-2 in league) might have lost by more if not for the goaltending of senior goalie Jason Cutler, who made several acrobatic saves, and the defense of Dave Villalobos. The loss tarnished a dramatic victory over Venice in which a corner kick deflected off of Villalobos and into the net in the 79th minute for the game-winning goal. Michael Larin scored in the 13th minute off of a pass from Rafael Martinez and Deyan Sabourian added a goal in the 28th minute off of an assist from Alex Francis. “We easily could be 3-3 or better in league right now,” assistant coach John Lissauer said. “We tied Westchester and University and we dominated for 70 of the 80 minutes and had 17 shots against Hamilton, but still lost 2-1. We’ve just had trouble scoring.”

Eight Southern California regions, including Region 69 (Palisades/Brentwood/Topanga) participated in a two-week Area P tournament last weekend at Culver City High and John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica. The top team from every region played a round robin tournament two weeks ago to determine seeding. Last weekend, each team played again in a single-elimination tournament. Following are results from last weekend involving Palisades teams: U-10 Girls The Pali Storm thundered through the Area P playoffs last weekend in Culver City, winning all four of their games. In Saturday’s opener, Pali defeated Los Angeles Central, 1-0, on a goal off of an indirect free kick by Jenna Davis, assised by Clara Clymer. Pali edged host Culver City, 3-2, in stoppage time Saturday afternoon on a goal by Cami Chapus from 16 yards out. Davis’s throw-in to Eve Babcock set up winning goal. Arden Shore converted a penalty kick in the second when Babcock was taken down in the box. Babcock scored in the third quarter while Izzy DeSantis’ goaltending and the defense of Caroline Frost contributed to the victory. Sunday’s game between Pali and Beverly Hills pitted two undefeated teams. In the second quarter, Deborah Abber scored from the top of the penalty area. A few minutes later, Chapus scored off of an assist from Bella Hicks to give the Storm a 2-0 win. Pali shut out Hollywood-Wilshire 6-0 in its final game Sunday. Madeline Kaplan, Davis, Chapus, Abber, Clymer, and Babcock scored for the Storm. Pali, coached by Chuck Davis and Nancy Babcock, will advance to the quarterfinals against LA Central Saturday at Culver City High. U-12 Girls In a two-day soccer fest held this weekend in Burbank, the Palisades Thunder rolled to a second place finish at the Burbank Blast Tournament. The Pali Thunder (aka the Pali Tsunami) won all three of their games in pool play by 2-1, 1-0, and 3-1 scores, to finish first in their bracket. The team went on to take second place overall after a narrow penalty-kick shootout loss in the finals. Assistants Lupe Rodriguez and Terry Friedman and head coach Eric Waxman were proud of the team’s performance both offensively and defensively. Sweeper Robyn Rapaport and fellow defenders Alondra Barbosa, Erin Landau, Kate Friedman and Olivia Clifford harried the opposition at every turn, allowing only two goals the entire tournament. Barbosa and Landau showed versatility shifting to the forward position and combining to score three goals. Dylan Blakely, Lauren Rodriguez and Ashley Grossman dominated the midfield. Emma Castillo and Carlye Gordon played well at forward with multiple scores. Goalies Katie Takakjian and Alice Phillips made numerous saves.

While watching the Super Bowl this Sunday, keep an eye out for #71 of the Carolina Panthers. It’s 6-8, 315-pound offensive right tackle Matt Willig, who moved to the Palisades bluffs a year ago with his wife, Chris, and their baby. Willig, a 12-year NFL veteran, is a native of Santa Fe Springs and was a standout player at USC. He entered the league as a defensive end but switched to tackle as a rookie with the New York Jets, where he spent the first three seasons of his pro career. He started a career-high 13 games at right tackle for the Atlanta Falcons in 1997, then had a short stint with the Green Bay Packers before earning a Super Bowl ring with the St. Louis Rams in 1999. Willig was traded to San Francisco prior to the 2000 season, where he played three seasons. He signed with Carolina as a free agent in August and has backed-up first-round draft choice Jordan Gross this season. Willig has started 34 of the 133 games he has played in the NFL.

Winning seems to follow Palisadian Jerritt Elliott wherever he goes. The Palisades High grad and former USC interim head coach is now beginning his third year as head coach of the University of Texas women’s volleyball team and already he has brought the program back to national prominence. Under Elliott’s leadership, the Longhorns reached the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and finished fourth in the Big 12 Conference. Elliott was selected Pac-10 Coach of the Year in both of his seasons at USC, where he led the Women of Troy to a No. 4 national ranking and a 29-3 record in 2000. Elliott graduated from Cal State Northridge with a Kinesiology degree in 1991. He was appointed head coach of the USA Junior National team for the summer of 2001 but gave up the position to take the Texas job.