The Palisades High boys and girls varsity basketball teams both made the City Section’s championship playoffs and both will play at Crenshaw in the opening round. The Dolphin girls’ squad was seeded 15th out of 16 teams in the upper bracket and plays Crenshaw tonight at 7:30. The boys were seeded 11th and play the Cougars Friday at 7:30 p.m. Boys Playing at Crenshaw is nothing new for Pali boys’ coach James Paleno, who has led the Dolphins to the championship bracket in each of his 13 seasons. Palisades (14-10) saw its season end at Crenshaw in 2000 and 2001, losing by a single point the second time despite 33 points from Marko Mihailovic. This season, the Dolphins finished third in the Western League behind Westchester (23-2) and Fairfax (20-4), but defending City and state champion Westchester is banned from postseason competition because of rules violations, so Pali earned a higher seed and fourth-place Venice (12-13) made the upper bracket. “Personally, I’m hoping Westchester is allowed to play because if they don’t, whoever wins won’t be the real champion,” PaliHi junior D’Andre Bell said before the playoff seedings were announced Saturday. “Everyone knows who the best team is and if they don’t play, it won’t be the same. But we can’t control that and no matter what happens we’re still going to try and win.” Bell, who leads the Dolphins in scoring and rebounding, and point guard Corey Counts will have to contend with a hostile crowd and the biggest home-court advantage in the City Section. The sixth-seeded Cougars (17-6), who tied Fremont for second-place in the Coliseum League, have lost only 10 home games in the last 34 years. Should the Dolphins upset Crenshaw tomorrow, they would either host 14th-seeded Monroe (17-7) or travel to third-seeded Taft (23-2) in the quarterfinals next Wednesday. Looming in the semifinals is a possible matchup against second-seeded Dorsey (22-2). The City finals are Saturday, March 6, at the Sports Arena. Girls Palisades coach Kevin Hall thought his team would be one of the top seeds in the Invitational (consolation) playoffs. Instead, the Dolphins (11-11) were placed in the upper bracket and must play the hottest team in Southern California in the first round tonight. Second-seeded Crenshaw (24-1) is on a 23-game winning streak, all the more reason Hall thinks Pali has a chance. “We’re coming in with the mentality that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We’re not expected to win and as good as Crenshaw’s been playing, sooner or later they’re bound to have a letdown.” Hall coached for a season at Crenshaw several years ago and several of Crenshaw’s seniors will likely remember him. But no matter what happens, Hall is proud of his young team. “We’ve overachieved this year. At the start of the season, I wasn’t even confident we’d make the playoffs and here we are with a shot to play for the championship. “I always divide the season into three parts: tournaments, league and the playoffs,” Hall said. “As of right now, everyone is 0-0. What happened in the past doesn’t matter.” Should Palisades upset Crenshaw, it would travel to either seventh-seeded Chatsworth (15-6) or 10th-seeded Jordan (18-4) for the quartefinals next Wednesday. Looming in the semifinals is a possible matchup against third-seeded Sylmar (15-6), which eliminated the Dolphins two years ago.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
