Palisades Hoops Tops Crenshaw

The marquee matchup of the City Section Division I quarterfinals was all of that and then some.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Palisades High boys basketball team walked off the court at Crenshaw High with a hard-fought 72-68 victory.

Going into the playoffs, Palisades head coach James Paleno believed his team was worthy of the No. 4 seed despite finishing in second place in the Western League behind Westchester. Instead, the Dolphins were seeded fifth, one spot behind Crenshaw, the Coliseum League champion.

"This is a huge monkey off my back," Paleno said. "I've been trying to win in that gym ever since I was a player at Hamilton in 1973. We've had some close calls, but could never quite do it. I'm real proud of our kids... they played like champions."  

Beating the Cougars on their turf is no small task, but Palisades prevailed because it stuck to its gameplan and didn't panic even after falling behind by as many as 18 points in the second quarter. The Dolphins (18-12) showed resilience as they chipped away at the deficit and trailed by nine points at halftime.

Donovan Johnson led the way with 26 points, Kahlil Johnson scored 17, Ilya Ilyayev scored 10 and Everett Osborne added nine points for Palisades, which clinched an automatic berth into the state Division I playoffs. 

"We looked at the stat sheet and saw that two players, Darnell Taylor and Isaac Hamilton, scored 33 of their 39 points in the first half," Paleno said. "So we had to clamp down on defense and we did. I don't think Taylor had a field goal in the second half. We played tough and wore them down, which was the plan all along."

Adam Griffin started off the third quarter making a three-pointer, then converting a three-point play to pull the Dolphins to within a basket. He later dislocated his ankle and had to be taken to the hospital. The setback seemed to fire up his teammates. The Dolphins took their first lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Cougars (19-9) caught up with  a three-point lead.

Free throw shooting proved to be the difference down the stretch as Palisades made 11 of 12 attempts in the fourth quarter to quell every Crenshaw run. Josh Burton pulled down a key rebound after a missed a free throw by Crenshaw and Nathan Nazarian sank two clutch free throws in the final seconds. The Dolphins persevered despite losing Griffin and Ilyayev and Malcolm Creer fouling out.

Palisades' reward for pulling off one of the biggest wins in the program's history? A semifinal date with top-seeded Woodland Hills Taft (25-2) Friday at 6 p.m. at USC's Galen Center.

"They are the prohibitive favorite, they are supposed to win," Paleno said of the Toreadors, who are riding a 15-game winning streak. "Taft hasn't been challenged in league whereas we're pretty battle-tested. We're used to being in tight games so that could work in our favor if we can keep it close."

Paleno noted that 11 of the 12 teams that have beaten Palisades this season were still alive in the City and Southern Section playoffs -a testament to the Dolphins' strength of schedule.

"My other kids have a tee time for 3 p.m. [Wednesday]," said Paleno, who also coaches the boys' golf team. "I'm glad I won't be able to join them because that means I've got basketball practice." 

Second-seeded Westchester (25-6) will play third-seeded Washington (22-6), the Marine League champion, in Friday's second semifinal at the Galen Center.