Narbonne Takes City by Storm

Harbor City Narbonne is regarded as the top girls’ basketball team in the nation.

Friday night at the Great Western Forum, the Lady Gauchos once again showed why.

Top-seeded Narbonne defeated second-seeded Palisades, 68-35, to win the City Section championship and improve its record to 30-0.

It was just another step for a Narbonne team determined to finish the season the way it began it--ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today.

“Our game plan was to come out, attack them and take all the heart out of them,” Narbonne forward Ebony Hoffman said. “A lot of people play for us and there isn’t much of a drop-off no matter who is in the game.”

Sophomore guard Lisa Willis scored 22 points, Hoffman, a senior, had 12 and junior guard Loree Moore added seven points, six rebounds and four steals for Narbonne.

Friday night’s victory marked the second time in three years that Narbonne has defeated Palisades in the City championship game. In 1998, the Lady Gauchos won, 60-49, at the Sports Arena and went on to defeat Berkeley in the state Division I championship game in Sacramento.

Narbonne, however, was stripped of both titles because of violations related to residence issues. Both the City and state championships were vacated and Narbonne was ruled ineligible for the 1999 playoffs.

Palisades took advantage of Narbonne’s absence to win its first girls’ basketball title last season.

But the Dolphins’ chances for a repeat ended almost as soon as Friday night’s game began.

Narbonne took advantage of eight turnovers to build a 15-0 lead behind Willis, Hoffman and Moore. Even when they missed, the Lady Gauchos used their superior size for numerous second and third shots.

Palisades (20-3) did not attempt its first shot until 4:27 remained in the first quarter. Melissa Henderson finally put Palisades on the scoreboard when she made a free throw with 2:34 left.

Narbonne led, 19-3, at the end of the first quarter.

“They were just too big, and we came out a little too hyped,” Palisades guard April Freeney said. “We weren’t playing calm. We were playing at their pace.”

The Lady Gauchos led by as many as 23 points before Palisades closed the second quarter with a 6-0 run to make the score, 34-19, at halftime.

Narbonne erased any hope of a comeback by outscoring the Dolphins, 22-9, in the third quarter.

“This was one of our better games in a while,” said Willis, who made four three-point shots and also had nine rebounds. “Normally, when we start off beating a team by a lot, we slack off and then have to come back. Tonight, we played with enthusiasm the whole game.”

Freeney scored 11 points and Etricia Ewells added eight for Palisades.

Narbonne and Palisades will open play in the Southern California regional of the state tournament next week.