Taft Takes Down Pali, 78-59

It seemed like deja vu all over again.   Three days after storming back from an 18-point deficit to win at Crenshaw, the Palisades boys’ basketball team appeared ready to engineer yet another comeback and upset top-seeded Taft at the Galen Center last Friday.   Forward Brenden Otero scored the last five points of the first half, including a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 38-27, then seniors Ilya Ilyayev and Everett Osborne each scored to open the second half, trimming the gap to seven. And suddenly, the Dolphins had all the momentum, poised to snatch a place in the finals from the Toreadors.   But it wasn’t meant to be.   Taft quickly rattled off a 12-3 run’buoyed by two Palisades technicals’to run its lead to 50-34 with 3:56 left in the third and Pali ultimately saw their Division I City Section playoff run come to an end, 78-59. ‘Despite the score, it was a winnable game,’ Pali head coach James Paleno said. ‘It’s frustrating. I said all along that if we were able to keep the game close, they haven’t been tested. I think they might’ve had some issues. But we weren’t able to do that.’ Pali’s full-court press couldn’t consistently slow down the speed and athleticism of the Toreadors, who boast a roster filled with several college prospects. Guard Spencer Dinwiddie, a Colorado commit, ended with 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Khiry Williams added 20 points and 6-foot-10, 250-pound Kevin Johnson added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile for Pali, junior Donovan Johnson led the way with 15 points and five assists, but was the only Dolphin in double figures. Forward Kahlil Johnson added eight and Otero and junior Tyler Duke each had seven.   In the second half, a number of different Pali players chipped in with a strong moment or spark to keep it somewhat close, none more memorable than Duke’s four-point play that made it 52-42 with just under two minutes remaining in the third.   But there were also forgettable moments, some of which could be argued were the result of questionable officiating.   After the Dolphins cut the lead to 38-31, the Pali was assessed a technical foul, then moments later senior guard Malcolm Creer picked up another. Neither appeared warranted, with many in the Galen crowd puzzled as to the justification for each call. Seconds later, the deficit was back up to double figures.   Then in the game’s final few minutes, Kahlil Johnson picked up two intentional fouls and was ejected after shoving a Taft player on two separate occasions.   ’The officiating had nothing to do with the outcome of the game,’ Paleno said. ‘We didn’t perform well, we lost our composure and I told our kids that. If they want to play on a team that I’m involved with, they need to control themselves better, whatever the situation is.’   Fortunately for the Dolphins, their semifinal appearance gives them a ticket to the state playoffs, beginning on either next Monday or Tuesday.   In addition to losing Kahlil Johnson, who will be absent because of his ejection, Pali will also be without second-leading scorer Adam Griffin, who dislocated his ankle at Crenshaw. In their stead, an assortment of players (like juniors Duke and Otero, who each turned in solid contributions against Taft) will fill-in for their missing teammates for at least one more game’an opportunity Paleno certainly welcomed.   ’If the season ended here, we could be a little more upset,’ he said. ‘But we have another opportunity to play. Nobody’s ready for the season to be over.’