Narbonne Finally Gets Its Championship Ring

Narbonne High kept its appointed date with destiny Friday night at the Sports Arena, defeating Palisades, 60-49, in the City Section girls’ basketball 4-A championship game.

The Gauchos, ranked second in the state, were a heavy favorite to win their first 4-A title ever since the end of last season, when they lost to Crenshaw in both the 4-A final and the championship game of the Southern California regional of the state tournament.

“Last year, we had a lot of seniors that we wanted to get a ring for, and we couldn’t do it,” said Narbonne guard Jessica Cheeks, who scored a game-high 21 points against Palisades. “This year, we really wanted to get that ring. We weren’t going to be denied.”

Cheeks, a junior, could have another ring before she is done. Narbonne (24-4) has only one senior on its roster. Palisades (22-5), too, is a young team and it’s likely that the Dolphins will contend for the title again next season.

Narbonne defeated Fremont, El Camino Real and Westchester by an average of 46 points en route en route to the championship game, but could not pull away from the Dolphins.

The Gauchos led, 28-25, at halftime and extended their lead to 45-38 by the end of the third quarter. Cheeks, forward Ebony Hoffman and guard LaTasha O’Keith spurred a fourth-quarter surge that gave Narbonne a 56-46 lead with three minutes left.

“They were one of the best teams we’ve played all year,” said Cheeks, who also had eight assists and four steals.

Sophomore guard April Freeney scored 17 points and junior guard Leilani Estavan had 10 for Palisades, which beat Carson, Venice and North Hollywood in the playoffs before running into Narbonne, which now sets its sights on the state Division I championship.

“This was the first step,” Cheeks said.