Phil Reed works for position against San Pedro defender Bryce Jackson. He scored 29 points in the win for the Dolphins.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
By STEVE GALLUZZO
CTN Contributor
Basketball
For one half, the Palisades High boys basketball team got exactly what head coach Jeff Bryant was hoping for Saturday night in the City Section Open Division semifinals at Southwest College.
Despite being a heavy underdog, fifth-seeded San Pedro showed up with a plan and executed it to perfection for 16 minutes before the Dolphins’ athleticism and skill allowed them to pull away for a 71-56 victory and a spot in the finals Friday at 8 p.m. at the same venue.
“Give them credit—that’s the toughest any City team has played us all season,” Bryant said. “I told my guys San Pedro is playing with house money. We’re supposed to win. They had nothing to lose. It was a good wake-up call for us.”
The Pirates (23-7) had stunned fourth-seeded Washington Prep 51-47 in the quarterfinals and were confident they could pull off a bigger upset after leading by as many as seven points in the first quarter Saturday.
Freshman phenom Phil Reed kept the Dolphins close with drives and pull-up jumpers and EJ Popoola’s three-pointer at the buzzer pulled the top-seeded Dolphins within three, 18-15, going into the second quarter.
EJ Popoola pulls down a rebound in the first half of the Open Division semifinal against San Pedro.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
Palisades got a nose in front midway through the second quarter as its defense started to get stops and force turnovers that led to transition baskets. Reed had 17 of the Dolphins’ 33 points in the first half and they went to the locker room ahead by four.
“We expected to be ahead by more but my message at halftime was ‘Hey, we’re here for a reason, don’t get too high or too low,” Bryant said. “They started missing their shots which led to some dunks and got our motor going.”
Heeding Bryant’s advice to pound the paint instead of settling for outside shots, twins EJ and OJ Popoola went to work in the post and combined for 13 points in the third quarter, all of the damage coming on dunks, layups and free throws after San Pedro fouls. The Dolphins grew the margin to 18 heading to the final frame.
The last eight minutes showcased the Dolphins’ depth, and they answered each run San Pedro tried to make to narrow its deficit.
Ricky Alonso hit five three-pointers and ended up with 17 for the Pirates, but Reed countered with 29, the Popoolas netted 14 and nine, respectively, AJ Neale finished with nine and sharpshooting guard Jack Levey added eight—including a pair of three-pointers which upped his season total to 103.
Jack Levey makes a layup in the fourth quarter Saturday night against San Pedro.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
Palisades captured its first outright league title in 40 years a few weeks ago. The program’s only upper division City championship was way back in 1969, when the Dolphins won 21 of 22 contests and beat Reseda in the finals at Pauley Pavilion.
Ironically, Palisades will have to beat another team from Reseda to win the title Friday in second-seeded Cleveland (20-9), which needed 24 points from sophomore guard Charlie Adams to beat Fairfax 68-64 in overtime in Saturday’s first semifinal. The Dolphins (19-11) defeated Fairfax by 47 and 28 points in the teams’ two Western League meetings at the end of the January.
“We won’t take them lightly,” said Bryant, who arrived early to get a look at Cleveland. “They’re league champs just like us.”
Junior transfer OJ Popoola dribbles into the front court around San Pedro defender Ricky Alonso.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
Girls Water Polo
Bailey Gair scored three goals in the Dolphins’ 8-7 loss to San Pedro in the City Division I final.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
Palisades Girls Water Polo bid for a fourth City title fell just short as it lost 8-7 to league rival San Pedro in the Division I final last Wednesday at Valley College.
The Dolphins were behind by a goal with 40 seconds left when coach Theo Trask intentionally called a timeout even though he did not have any left. The Pirates were awarded a penalty shot and Tatum Mahi converted from the five-meter line to clinch it.
“My hope was she’d miss and we’d get the ball with the full 30- second shot clock with a chance to tie the game,” said Trask, a Palisades alum who helped the boys win four straight City titles from 2015-18. “The other option was to let them run the time off but even if we got a stop we’d only have 10 seconds ourselves. Unfortunately it didn’t work out.”
Despite being double-teamed nearly every time she got the ball, Bailey Gair scored three goals for the Dolphins. Jordan Detwiler scored twice, Dylan Kuperberg had one goal and Olivia Clark scored to get her team back within a goal with 17 ticks left. Sophomore goalie Nicole Magnusen made five saves.
The teams had split their two Western/Marine League meetings. Palisades was playing in its ninth straight section final (and 12th since the girls program was reinstated in 2011-12), but its first in Division I.
Yasmine Santini takes a shot in the City Division I final last Wednesday evening at Valley College.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
Boys Soccer
For the third time in four years, Palisades’ bid for a second City title was ended by El Camino Real. The Dolphins dueled the top-seeded Royals through regulation and nearly forced a shootout, but Jayden De La Cruz scored a golden goal with two minutes remaining in overtime to lift El Camino Real to a 1-0 victory last Thursday in Woodland Hills in the Open Division semifinals.
In the 2023 Division I semifinal matchup, neither team scored in regulation and overtime but the Royals prevailed 4-1 on penalty kicks. The next season, ECR won 2-1 in overtime in a Division I quarterfinal game.
Girls Soccer
No. 1-seeded Cleveland scored three times in the first half on its way to a 4-0 victory over No. 5 Palisades last Wednesday in the City Open semifinals at Taft High. It marked the third straight season that Cleveland has eliminated the Dolphins in the semifinals. The Cavaliers won 3-1 a year ago, also in the Open Division, and prevailed 5-4 in a shootout in 2024 in the Division I semifinals.
Palisades has advanced to at least the semifinals seven times in 12 seasons under head coach Christian Chambers.