City Section Girls’ Basketball Playoffs : Reseda Runs Past Palisades Into 3-A Final

Late in the third quarter, Palisades Coach Bob Smith yelled to forward Valerie Agee: “Please don’t foul out, Val, you’re all the offense we got.”

It would have taken another Agee and a little more for Palisades to beat Reseda on Friday night in the girls’ City Section 3-A Division semifinal game at Reseda.

Reseda, the defending City champion, ran the Dolphins out of the gym, 78-52, on the way to its second consecutive appearance in the championship game. And for the second season in a row, Reseda meets North Hollywood in the final. North Hollywood, which defeated University, 70-59, meets Reseda on Friday at 4 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

Reseda trailed, 4-0, early in the first quarter, but the Regents turned on their fast-break jets and outscored Palisades, 11-0, in the next four minutes and took a 19-11 lead at the end of the quarter.

“We work hard on our fast-break offense and we are such a balanced team we’re hard to stop,” Reseda Coach Andrea Francola said.

Reseda guard Cheryl Hightower led a very quick and balanced Regent offense with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

“I just played my hardest,” Hightower said. “I want to put another banner up on that wall.”

Reseda also passed crisply, frequently finding the open player as all five Regent starters scored in double figures.

Hightower’s running mate at guard, Angela Smith, scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Center Aggie Garcia added 10 points, and forwards Sharlene Cirrito and Frida Kalajian scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Palisades (16-6) made only 7 of 23 free throws in the first half. Smith’s game plan to draw Reseda fouls and catch up at the foul line backfired. Reseda, meanwhile, made 7 of 9 free throws and took a 33-24 lead at halftime.

Agee scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for Palisades before fouling out with seven minutes remaining.

Reseda (20-1), which forced 22 Palisades turnovers and outrebounded Palisades, 54-36, turned the game into a rout.

Hightower feels confident about a second Reseda championship.

“The way we are playing now, nothing is going to stop us.”