Pali High Boys Basketball Can’t Tame Host Wildcats

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The City Section Division I tournament doesn’t begin until tonight, but the Palisades High boys basketball team treated last Friday’s Western League finale at University as if it were the playoffs, knowing a win could earn the Dolphins home court in the first round. Palisades stayed close for three quarters, but the Wildcats pulled away in the final eight minutes to prevail 62-37.

The loss dropped Palisades into fifth place in the league standings at 5-7 and 8-18 overall. University  was hoping to be one of eight teams chosen for the Open Division, but when seedings were announced Saturday, University was No. 4 and Palisades No. 9 in the 16-team Division I bracket.    

Palisades will travel to No. 8 Dorsey (14-14), the fourth-place finisher in the Coliseum League, in its opener Friday night at 7, with the winner either hosting No. 16 Bernstein or traveling to top-seeded View Park in next Wednesday’s quarterfinals.    

Two days before losing to University, Palisades had first-place Westchester on the ropes early and entered halftime tied before falling 68-50. Westchester and Fairfax shared the league crown and are seeded No. 1 and No. 2 in the Open Division.

“Defensively we didn’t stick to the gameplan tonight,” captain Nick Kerkorian said following his seven-point effort against University. “When our execution is good, we can play with anyone in league. Tonight we weren’t hitting our shots and we weren’t getting in the paint enough in the second half.”

Anthony Spencer led with nine points, Will Janney had seven, Avi Massaband scored six and Ryan Hinton and Keyshawn Parks each added four.