Palisades holds off Fairfax, 64-60, in boys’ basketball
Fairfax played so poorly for the first 18 minutes of its Western League basketball game against Palisades on Friday night that Coach Harvey Kitani probably didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The Lions trailed 45-19 early in the third quarter. They made three of 29 shots in the first half. The big question was whether a running clock would be used in the fourth quarter.
A bigger surprise was that the Lions came close to pulling off an impressive comeback. They trailed 62-60 and had the ball with 14 seconds left. But Brendyn Taylor’s three-point shot from the top of the key missed, and Palisades hung on for a 64-60 victory.
Palisades (9-8, 3-0) got a clutch performance from guard Jalon Wilson, who made eight consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter, including two with two seconds left that sealed the victory.
The Dolphins had five players score in double figures, led by Donovan Johnson’s 12 points.
But the Dolphins were disappointed afterward that they let Fairfax back in the game.
“We relaxed and they picked up the energy,” Johnson said. “When it happens, that’s how close games end up like that. There’s no way they should have scored all those points. It shouldn’t have been that close.”
Fairfax (10-6, 3-1) started playing better defense and forcing turnovers, and the Lions even started making shots. They closed to 53-36 after three quarters, went on an 11-1 run to start the fourth quarter and found themselves back in the game.
“When you shoot that horrendously, you’re not going to be ahead of anyone,” Kitani said. “We needed to look at ourselves, come back and play like we know we can. But when you get down that many points, it’s hard because you’re going to have to play near-perfect basketball.”
Landon Drew led Fairfax with 19 points, including two three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Taylor, in his second game back after regaining his eligibility, had 15 points. Fairfax was 21 of 40 from the free throw line.
Palisades and Westchester are the only unbeaten teams in the Western League and will play next Friday at Westchester.
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