Pali High Boys Hoops Falls to Comets

With sole possession of first place in the Western League on the line Friday night, host Westchester relied on its defense in the final minutes to hold off a surge and win 64-61. 

After Tyler Duke's drive and layup leveled the score 56-56 with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter, Comets Coach Ed Azzam called a timeout to stem the visitors' momentum. Matthew Grant's layup put Westchester back in front and he added a pair of free throws to increase the Comets' lead to 60-56 with 1:56 left.

Donovan Johnson was fouled in the act of shooting and made both free throws to pull Palisades within 60-58 with 1:01 left, but James Brown III scored a putback basket to increase Westchester's lead to 62-58 with 32 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing possession Johnson was fouled but this time he missed both foul shots. Keywhon Powns secured the rebound, was immediately fouled, and made both free throws to make it 64-58 Westchester with 19 seconds left. 

Je'Ron Primus scored 18 points, including four three-pointers, Grant had 12 points and Brown III and Powns each finished with 10 points for Westchester, which outscored the Dolphins 20-10 in the opening quarter and led 39-26 at halftime. Westchester, the defending league champion and last year's L.A. City Section Division I runner-up, improved to 12-4 overall and 4-0 in league.

Palisades' Tyler Hildreth hit a three-pointer at the final buzzer to close the gap, but it was too little, too late for a Dolphins team riding high after a 64-60 upset of Fairfax one week before.

"The fourth quarter was back and forth and we were fortunate to win," Azzam said. "We were having trouble scoring but we finally got into the one-and-one situation and made some free throws. The City [Section] is wide open and that's a championship-caliber team. We held serve at home but nothing's decided yet."

Johnson led all scorers with 19 points, Hildreth had 13 points and Tyler Duke added 12 for Palisades (10-9, 4-1), which dropped into third place, half a game behind Fairfax, which has played one more league game than the Dolphins. 

Brenden Otero had six points, Ryan Ford had four and Jalon Wilson added three before taking a hard fall after being fouled early in the game. He was driven to the hospital with concussion-like symptoms and replaced by Donovan Johnson's younger brother, Aaron.

"We had some tough calls go against us in the fourth quarter but that's not why we lost," Palisades Coach James Paleno said. "We dug a hole for ourselves with turnovers and some crucial missed free throws. We were right there with a few minutes to go. In the end, it came down to execution. They put the ball in the basket and we didn't."

Westchester hosts Fairfax (13-6, 5-1) next Wednesday in the first of two league meetings while Palisades travels to fourth-place University (14-9, 2-2) at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Palisades split its two meetings with the Wildcats last season. The Dolphins then return home to play LACES on Wednesday and Venice on Friday.

Score by Quarters

1

2

3

4

Final

Palisades

10

17

18

61

20

12

13

64

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Palisades stayed undefeated in league play with a 62-44 victory over visiting Westchester last Friday, led by 18 points, 14 rebounds and four assists from center Donae Moguel. Hayley Hutt added eight points and seven rebounds and Ashlie Bruner and Kylie Mizushima each added seven points for the Dolphins (15-5, 5-0), who won their sixth straight game.

The Dolphins host University on Monday, travel to LACES on Wednesday and play Cerritos Whitney as part of a one-day extravaganza on Saturday. Whitney, a CIF Southern Section school, is 18-2 and undefeated in the Academy League.