Pali High Teams Make City Playoffs

After his team finished in a three-way tie for first place in the Western League, Palisades High School boys basketball coach James Paleno was curious to see where the Dolphins would be seeded in the City Section Division 1 playoffs.

When the pairings were released Saturday afternoon, he finally got his answer. Palisades is seeded No. 4 in the 16-team bracket and hosts 13th-seeded Manual Arts in the first round Friday night.

Fairfax and Westchester, who finished tied atop the league with Palisades, were seeded No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. West Valley League winner and defending City champion Taft was awarded the top seed. L.A. University, which was fourth in the Western League, is seeded No. 9—a testament to that league's depth.

"They never give a reason [for their decisions] but No. 4 is certainly better than No. 5 and if we take care of business that would mean two home games," Paleno said. "My argument to the [selection] committee was that if Fairfax got the No. 2 seed then we could go no lower than No. 4 since we tied for the league championship and we beat the No. 2 seed twice."

Palisades (16-10 overall, 8-2 in league) won both league meetings with Fairfax (19-9) but lost its two league games to Westchester (20-6), which was picked third because of its better overall record and comparable strength of schedule.

Looming in the quarterfinals for the Dolphins is a matchup against fifth-seeded Crenshaw (22-4), the Coliseum League champion. Paleno scouted the Cougars' league finale against Dorsey and thinks his team can beat them, but he is by no means overlooking the Toilers (5-15), who finished in fifth place in the Coliseum League. 

"If we can rebound, we can beat anyone," said Paleno, who also had no quarrel with Taft's placement. "[Taft] just beat Loyola, so yes I think they deserved the No. 1 seed."

Click here for the complete Division 1 playoff bracket.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

As expected, Palisades was awarded the No. 1 seed in the City Division 2 playoffs. The defending champion Dolphins (24-5, 12-0) will host No. 16 Hollywood in the first round Thursday.

If victorious against the Sheiks, Coach Torino Johnson's squad will host either No. 8 Venice or No. 9 North Hollywood in the quarterfinals Feb. 21. The Dolphins are riding a 15-game winning streak and are undefeated against City opponents this season.

Click here for the complete Division 2 playoff bracket.  

BOYS SOCCER

Winning the Western League earned the Dolphins the No. 8 seed out of 32 teams in the City Section's Large Schools Division. Palisades (13-4-1, 11-1-0) hosts No. 25 Esteban Torres in the first round at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Stadium by the Sea.

If Palisades gets by Torres, it will host the winner between 24th-seeded Marshall and No. 9 Taft in the second round Friday. Bell is the top seed, followed by El Camino Real, San Fernando and South East.

GIRLS SOCCER

Last season, Palisades was seeded second and made it all the way to the finals. The Dolphins hope to repeat that scenario this winter after being seeded No. 2 behind defending champion El Camino Real in the City's 16-team upper bracket.

The Western League champion Dolphins (14-4-0, 11-1-0) open against Banning on Thursday and, if victorious, will host No. 10 Birmingham or No. 7-seeded Sylmar in the quarterfinals Feb. 22, also at Stadium by the Sea.

The boys and girls City championship soccer games are March 3 at Contreras Learning Center in Los Angeles.