Palisades High Sports Roundup

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..