After two tough road losses against Fairfax and Westchester the Palisades High boys basketball team returned home hoping to get back on the winning track against Hamilton, which entered the contest tied for last place in the Western League.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Indeed, the Dolphins appeared on their way to a comfortable victory, building a seemingly safe 11-point halftime lead. However, the Yankees opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run to pull within one point and finally took the lead, 49-48, on Louis Walker’s three-point play with 2:20 left.
Guard Will Johnson drained a three-pointer to pull the Dolphins within 59-57 with three seconds left setting the stage for a bizarre finish.
Hamilton’s Micah Moore was intentionally fouled with two seconds left. He missed the first free throw and his second attempt bounced off the rim and into the arms of Ron Artest III, who took two steps forward and launched a desperation shot towards the other basket. As Yankees players started to celebrate the whistle blew and the referee signaled a foul in the act of shooting, giving Artest III three free throws and a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. However, he missed his first two attempts and Hamilton escaped with a 59-57 victory.
“Our belief started at halftime,” Walker said of the Yankees’ furious fourth-quarter comeback. “We were still in the game and we knew we could win. At the end Ifigured he’d miss at least one [free throw] and we could’ve won in overtime but fortunately it didn’t come to that.”
Afterwards, Hamilton coach Mark Mizuno looked more relieved than happy.
“I can’t believe they made a call like that at the end,” he said. “We have a bunch of confident kids and we play in the toughest league in the City so we’re used to games like this. We played solid defense and tried to make them take bad shots.”
Photo: Steve Galluzzo
Joseph Robinson led the Dolphins with 21 points. Tucker Steil had 10 points and four assists, Artest III had 10 points and nine rebounds, Johnson had five points and four assists and Chris Kurihara also had five points and five assists for Palisades, which dropped to 12-11 overall and 3-5 in league.
“Defensively, we didn’t take care of business in the second half,” Pali High Coach Vejas Anaya said. “This loss doesn’t fall on one individual. Poor rebounding, mM\issed free throws and layups throughout the game cost us.”
Last Wednesday, the Dolphins traveled to Fairfax determined to hand the nationally-ranked Lions their first loss of the season.
Instead, the home team took charge early and never looked back, winning 74-44 to improve to 21-0. Robinson scored 15 points in the loss.
On Friday, Palisades sought revenge against defending league champion Westchester, which dealt the Dolphins a 58-45 defeat Jan. 14. The host Comets raced to an 11-point halftime lead, but buckets by Robinson, Artest III and Steil got Palisades back in the game. Michael Fry’s two-handed dunk cut the Dolphins’ deficit to one and they took a one-point lead 30 seconds later on Robinson’s 10-foot jumper, but Westchester answered with a 20-3 run to build its lead back to 16 early in the fourth quarter.
The Dolphins got no closer than six points the rest of the way and lost 69-53. Robinson finished with 21 points, four assists and two steals, Johnson scored 14 points, Artest III had eight points and Michael Fry added four points and six rebounds.
“I was pleased with the effort we gave after they came back, but I’m not happy we let them come back,” Comets Coach Ed Azzam said. “We’d kind of prepared for No. 2 [Shane Williams] but No. 25 [Johnson] played really well.”
Williams, the Dolphins’ point guard, is still out with an injury but assistant coach Kris Johnson thought the Westchester game tested the team’s resolve.
“After the Fairfax game we needed this,” he said. “We competed hard and showed what we can do. We’re getting better.”
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