Ten girls representing Windward Middle School enjoyed a night they will never forget Feb. 2 when they teamed up to defeat Westside Neighborhood School 36-22 in the Crossroads High gym to capture the Pacific Basin League basketball championship. Pacing the team were several Palisadians, especially seventh-grader and Village School graduate Katie Sakamoto, who lit up the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists. Eighth-grader and Palisades resident Alexie Wehrle scored 10 points, including a three-pointer, made five of six free throw attempts and grabbed three rebounds. Fellow Palisadian and Village School alum Fiona Levin had a steal and fellow seventh-grader Alexis Grayeli, who also attended Village, played lockdown defense as Windward pulled away in the second half.
Mikaella Kawahito had 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and pulled down six rebounds. Another eighth-grader, Morgan Litt, contributed three rebounds, four steals and two assists. Eighth-grader
Saira Rahemtulla had five rebounds and one steal and adding two points and one rebound was eighth-grader
Sofia Armon. Eighth-grader Izzy Meigs grabbed a rebound and seventh-grader Blakely Shore, who was injured, rounded out the squad.
Sakamoto, Wehrle, Levin and Grayeli have played basketball in the Palisades Recreation Center league since the Rookie Division.
Two years ago Sakamoto started at point guard for the Pali Rec Girls All-Stars in the LA Recreation and Parks’ Citywide Minor Division Tournament, scoring 28 points in the regional final, 11 points in the City semifinals and 17 more in the championship game.
Windward’s boys team also won the PBL title and once again it was helped by several Palisadians. The boys also topped Westside Neighborhood School in the finals behind 26 points from local resident and Village School alum Jackson Thomas and 10 points from Walker Diggs. Thomas also sparked the Wildcats’ semifinal win versus Crossroads with a 37-point effort. Palisadian and Village School alum Jake Ginestro also was a starter and played a key role in Windward’s success. Palisades resident and Village alum Landon Wallace and Seven Arrows alum Daniel Turteltaub were also on the roster.
Last February, Thomas, Ginestro, Wallace, Diggs, Turteltaub, Village School alum Owen Shukov and Palisadian Jaxson Goodman led Windward’s seventh-grade team to the PBL title, beating Brentwood 53-31 in the finals. Thomas led all scorers with 16 points in the championship game while Ginestro broke it openwith seven points in a three-minute span of the second quarter.
That team was coached by James Coleman and assistant Zach Bright, himself a Village School graduate.Thomas was the quarterback and Ginestro a receiver on Windward’s flag football team in the fall of 2023.
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