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When the horn sounded to end Friday night’s City Section Open Division boys’ basketball final, the first person OJ and EJ Popoola wanted to hug was their father, Chris.
Thirty years ago, he transferred from Westchester to Palisades to help the Dolphins reach the 4A semifinals. In June, his twin sons transferred to his alma mater from a Detroit prep school with hopes of making their papa proud and lifting the town’s spirit.
Mission accomplished.
OJ scored 19 and EJ added 17 as the Dolphins used tenacious defense, a three-point barrage and a relentless transition attack to overwhelm Cleveland, 75-56, at L.A. Southwest College.
Jack Levey made five three-pointers, raising his season total to 108, and Phil Reed had 13 points.
“This means everything,” OJ Popoola said. “Since the first day we came here this is what we wanted to do, bring joy back to the community.”
“We’re coming back next year to defend the title,” EJ Popoola added. “My dad’s team came up short but we finished the job.”
Playing the final at a neutral site was nothing new for a squad that did not play in its own gym for 42 straight games — a span of 388 days — in the aftermath of the Palisades fire last year.
“We accomplished two goals, winning league and City,” second-year coach Jeff Bryant said. “Now state is the third goal.”
Palisades (20-11) was in command from the start. OJ Popoola swished a three-pointer from the corner, Reed got a steal and scored on a layup, and Levey passed to OJ Popoola for a dunk, making it 7-0 after only 55 seconds. The Dolphins stretched the lead to 25-8 by the end of the first quarter and the margin was 19 by halftime.
Both teams lost in the Open Division semifinals last winter and were the preseason favorites to play for the title. They were awarded the top seeds in the eight-team bracket after each finished first in its league.
The Dolphins staked their claim as the best team in the City for the first time since 1969, when Palisades routed Reseda 85-57 in the final at Pauley Pavilion under the program’s first coach, Jerry Marvin, to finish the season 21-1 when there was only one playoff division. Leading that team was forward Chris Marlowe, who was named MVP after netting 29 points in the title game. He went on to captain the U.S. Olympic volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Since it opened in 1961, Palisades has been the crown jewel of the City Section, claiming more than 260 titles across all sports (more than twice as many as the next-closest school), but this is only the third in boys’ basketball.
Palisades captured the Division I crown six years ago under former coach Donzell Hayes, who was a teammate of Chris Popoola on the Dolphins’ 1995-96 team that fell in overtime to Crenshaw (coached by the legendary Willie West) in the 4A semifinals.
“My team was one game away but these kids completed the circle,” Chris Popoola said, then referenced a famous Dolphins alum. “I hope Steve Kerr was watching.”
Sophomore guard Charlie Adams, who scored 24 points in the Cavaliers’ 68-64 overtime win against Fairfax in the semifinals, was limited to 13 — part of Bryant’s pregame plan.
Sergine Deme scored 19 points and had five dunks, and TJ Wansa added 11 points for No. 2 Cleveland (20-10), which was seeking its first championship since back-to-back 3A titles under Greg Herrick in 1981 and 1982.
No City opponent came closer than 15 points against Palisades, which now waits to see what division it will play in for the state playoffs.
“We’re not done,” OJ Popoola said.
“We can compete with anyone,” EJ added.
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Division II championship: Sylmar 70, King/Drew 64
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The question heading into the Division II final was whether King/Drew could slow Sylmar’s up-tempo offense, which had scored more than 90 points 11 times and more than 100 four times.
The answer was yes, but not enough to keep the third-seeded Spartans (20-12) from winning their 12th game in a row.
Aiden Garcia led the way with 18 points, Rob Winn scored 15, Tim Tanner had 13 and Andrew Galvez added 10. Winn’s free throws put Sylmar up by seven with 14 seconds remaining and he made a layup at the buzzer.
“It was rewarding because everything started off so bad,” said Bort Escoto, who is in his 33rd season at Sylmar, making him the City’s longest-tenured active boys’ basketball coach. “After Christmas we put it together and the kids made a run, but we changed our system. I told them we’re gonna do something unconventional and I put in the old Loyola Marymount offense. The kids resisted at first but eventually they bought in.”
Escoto took over the Spartans’ program in 1993-94 and piloted Sylmar to the 3A title in 1998, the Division II title in 2014 and a Division I title in 2015. Among the first to congratulate him were two former players — Bryant and Chatsworth coach Sam Harris, whose Chancellors play Granada Hills for the Division I title Saturday at 2 p.m. at Pasadena City College.
“We just played really fast,” said Garcia, a sophomore transfer from Taft. “We did so much conditioning after practice — we all push each other.”
Sam Venson scored 28 points for fourth-seeded King/Drew (12-20).
King/Drew coach Lloyd Webster has guided the Golden Eagles to four City titles — back-to-back Invitational crowns in 2003 and 2004, the Division II title in 2018 and the Open championship in 2024.
King/Drew lost to Gardena 36-33 in the first round of Division I last year. Sylmar finished 11-19 last year, fifth in the Valley Mission League, and lost in the Division IV final to Downtown Magnets.
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