Sports
Pali High Girls Hoops Wins City Title
The Dolphins repeat as Division II champs; begin state tournament.
It was a little tougher than expected, but that only made Friday night's victory sweeter for the girls basketball team.
The Dolphins raced to a 14-0 lead over North Hills Monroe in the Los Angeles City Section Division II championship game at Roybal Learning Center, but they needed a pair of free throws from senior point guard and captain Ashlie Bruner with 18 seconds remaining to finally clinch a 53-49 win.
It was Palisades' second consecutive City Division II title under Coach Torino Johnson. Center Donae Moguel led the way with 17 points, Asia Smith pulled down 16 rebounds, Skai Thompson scored 11 points and Bruner added nine for the top-seeded Dolphins (28-6), who led 20-3 early in the second quarter.
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Junior Ayisat Afolabi had 18 points, 13 rebounds and four steals for the second-seeded Vikings (22-10), who used a 9-0 run to pull within 28-14 at halftime.
The Dolphins now begin the state tournament as the No. 6-seeded team and will host Southern Section Division 2A finalist Norco (18-14) in the first round Wednesday. The winner moves on to play West Hills or third-seeded Keppel in the Southern California Regional quarterfinals Saturday.
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GIRLS SOCCER
It was a rematch of last year's epic final, but Saturday's L.A. City Section championship was not nearly as dramatic.
Top-seeded Woodland Hills El Camino Real shut out second-seeded Palisades 6-0 at Contreras Learning Center to earn its 11th City title in 12 seasons.
Dylann O'Connor, Zoe Fishman and Jackie Hilario each scored twice for the Conquistadores (22-2-2), who led 3-0 at halftime. It was the first loss in 11 games for the Dolphins (17-5), who lost 1-0 in sudden-death overtime last season.
Palisades also lost to ECR, 4-0, in the 2005 final at East L.A. College.
BASEBALL
Mike Voelkel's squad is off to a 3-2 start, with losses to Oxnard (3-0) and Birmingham (4-3) and victories over Sun Valley Poly (14-3), Oxnard Pacifica (10-9) and Verdugo Hills (2-1) in the Southern California Invitational.
On Friday, the Western League champion Dolphins travel to Woodland Hills for a key nonleague game against West Valley League contender El Camino Real.
