PaliHi’s Jane Nwaba tries for two against Brentwood, while teammate Fanellyl Portillo waits for a possible rebound. Photo: Tanya Barcessat (visit: tanyabarcessat.com)
Dolphins Play for So. Regional Title March 5
The Palisades High girls basketball team won the City Section championship on February 23, beating Carson 60-57 in overtime, with Rose Morris making a three pointer with just 10 seconds left to play. Sophomore guard Sammie Arnold was high scorer with 16 points, junior Jane Nwaba had 14 and sophomore Alexis Pettis had 10.
Then, PaliHi hosted Brentwood School in the first round of the CIF State Girls Basketball Championships—Division III.
The Dolphins, seeded sixth, beat 11th-seeded Brentwood, 59-55, on February 26 and advanced to play third-seeded Poway in Poway, north of San Diego.
Coached by Adam Levine, the Dolphins have only three seniors tthis year, but in the quarterfinals, they edged Poway, 41-38.
Moving along, the Dolphins returned to San Diego County on March 2 to play San Marcos in the regional semifinals and prevailed, 59-48. Arnold was the high scorer with 13, freshman Janelly Portillo had 10 and freshman Demoni Lagway and Nwaba each added 8.
Pali now travels to McFarland (in Kern County, 25 miles from Bakersfield), to face the number one-seeded Cougars on March 5 at 7 p.m. The two teams have identical season records (18-19), but McFarland is ranked 67 in California (nationally 497), while the Dolphins are ranked 116 in state and 1,071 nationally).
Both teams have defeated Brentwood, with McFarland winning 68-63 on January 15. Both teams also faced Marymount, but with different results. On January 8, McFarland defeated Marymount 67-35, and on January 19, the Dolphins lost 51-44.
The winner of the Palisades-McFarland game will face the Northern Regional champion, either Oakland or Union Mine, on March 8 in the State final at the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento, where the Sacramento Kings play.
(Incidentally, McFarland is the school featured in a Disney film, “McFarland, USA,” about its remarkable 1987 cross-country team, starring Kevin Costner as the indomitable coach.
The Palisades High School girls basketball team won the City Section championship on February 23, beating Carson 60-57 in overtime, with Rose Morris making a three pointer with 10 seconds left in the game. Sophomore guard Sammie Arnold was high scorer with 16 points, junior Jane Nwaba, had 14 and sophomore Alexis Pettis had 10.
Then, PaliHi hosted Brentwood School in the first round of the CIF State Girls Basketball Championships—Division III.
PaliHi, seeded sixth, beat 11th-seeded Brentwood, 59-55, on February 26 and advanced to play third-seeded Poway in Poway, north of San Diego.
Coached by Adam Levine, the Dolphins have only three seniors this year, but in the quarterfinals, they edged Poway, 41-38.
Moving along, the Dolphins returned to San Diego County on March 2 to play San Marcos in the regional semifinals, and prevailed 59-48. Arnold was the high scorer with 13, freshman Janelly Portillo 10 and freshman Demoni Lagway and Nwaba each added 8.
Pali now travels to McFarland (in Kern County, 25 miles from Bakersfield), to face the number one-seeded team on March 5 at 7 p.m. The two teams have identical season records (18-19), but the Cougars are ranked 67 in California (nationally 497), while the Dolphins are ranked 116 in state and 1,071 nationally).
Both teams have defeated Brentwood, with McFarland winning 68-63 on January 15. Both teams have also faced Marymount, but with different results. On January 8, McFarland defeated Marymount 67-35, but on January 19, the Dolphins lost 51-44.
The winner of the Palisades-McFarland game will face the Northern Champion, either Oakland or Union Mine, on March 8 in the State final at the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento, where the Sacramento Kings play. McFarland is the school where a Disney film “McFarland, USA” was made about the 1987 cross-country team, starring Kevin Costner.