OJ Popoola dunks in the first half of Palisades’ 75-28 home victory over Fairfax on Thursday night. Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
By STEVE GALLUZZO
CTN Contributor
As soon as announcer Lorenz Evans declared: “Welcome back to Ocean Arena at world-famous Pali High!” before the pre-game introductions, a deafening roar erupted from the packed stands Thursday evening as the varsity boys basketball squad stepped onto the court in uniform for the first time in nearly 13 months.
No City banners hung on the walls of the gym and the front entrance was closed, but none of that mattered. The Dolphins were back and, as one poster read: “No Place Like Home.”
As the freshman and JV teams had done immediately before, the varsity put on a show and made its return memorable by blowing out Fairfax, 75-28, to continue its quest for its first outright league title in three decades.
“This is only my second win here and I’m halfway through my second season,” said Coach Jeff Bryant, whose first home win came January 6, 2025—a 57-29 victory over University the day before the Palisades Fire ravaged the Palisades campus and the town. “So it feels awesome and we’re going to build on this.”
Twins EJ and OJ Popoola transferred to Palisades over the summer and had to wait what felt like an eternity to play their first game at their new school but they dazzled in their debut. Only 10 seconds into the contest, EJ caught an alley-oop pass from Jack Levey and laid it in for the game’s first basket. He finished with 16 points (half of them coming on four slam dunks) while his brother poured in a game-high 19 and had two jams.
“It was cool,” said junior center Julian Cunningham, who had a basket and a free throw. “We haven’t had a game here in over a year. No way we were gonna lose. It was a great atmosphere and we won by 50, so that’s pretty good.”
Junior guard Jack Levey, who was voted Most Outstanding Player in the Western League last season and who leads the City in three-point accuracy at 45 percent, added: “The environment was amazing. It took me a little while to get comfortable with my shot because it’s been so long since I’ve played here. There wasn’t even a thought of losing.”
Levey had two three-pointers. AJ Neale had 13 points, freshman guard Phil Reed had 13 and Brady Cristall came off the bench to contribute four points. Palisades never trailed, leading 45-14 at halftime and 69-20 after three quarters.
Phil Reed shoots a jumper over Fairfax’s Jomari Marshall in the second half of the Dolphins’ win.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
Palisades went 12-7 in its last 19 games last season, losing to Chatsworth in the Open Division semifinals before advancing to the Division III regional semifinals (hosting three games at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa).
The Dolphins traveled to Fairfax on Friday and won again, 75-47, to improve to 14-11 overall and 9-0 in league with three games remaining.
They own the best strength of schedule in the City and are the favorites in the Open Division. They last won league in 2011-12 under James Paleno, finishing in a three-way tie for first with Westchester and Fairfax.
Palisades’ last outright league title was 30 years ago, when Chris Popoola, OJ and EJ’s father transferred from Westchester to Palisades his senior year and helped the Dolphins capture their third league crown in a row in 1996. Also on that team was Donzell Hayes, who would go on to coach his alma mater from 2016-23.
Hayes was at Thursday’s game, as was Vejas Anaya, who took over the reigns when Paleno stepped down in 2013.
After dropping 10 of their first 13 games this season the Dolphins are rounding into form, winning 11 of their last 12. “We’re trending in the right direction,” Bryant said. “We haven’t played our best game yet. Our biggest challenge is what’s next.”
PALIHI GIRLS:
Senior forward Leah Philias drives by LACES guard Sadie Tankel in the girls’ 56-35 win. Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
The girls team enjoyed a similar experience on Wednesday when it used a big second half to pull away from LACES for a 21-point victory, although the game was in the afternoon so not as many fans showed up.
Senior point guard Elly Tierney scored all 15 of her points in the second half. Junior forward Riley Oku had 10, Miley Kinney had nine (on three 3-pointers) while guard Ayla Teegardin and Sumaya Levy each added seven.
“It feels surreal… we’ve been waiting over a year to play here and it’s supposed to be our home,” Oku said. “Nothing compares to our own gym, this atmosphere. We have a place to defend now and we just have to capitalize on it. I’m excited… we have to get used to being back here.”
Palisades led only 19-18 at halftime, but outscored the Unicorns (7-13, 2-8) by nine in the third quarter and by 11 in the fourth to prevail 56-35 and improve to 6-2 in league, second behind Westchester (9-0).
The Comets took the schools’ first meeting, 60-55, on January 16 and they face each other again February 4.
First-year coach and Dolphins alum LeBre Merritt knows all of the team’s goals are still attainable: “We can still hit our stride. If we play hard, we play smart and we play together we can put ourselves in a position to win. We’ve been through worse.”