Girls’ basketball championships: Fairfax stuns Palisades in OT
Lions rally from 19-point deficit
Coming back from a 19-point third-quarter deficit, Fairfax High pulled out a stunning 82-80 overtime victory over Palisades on Saturday night in the City Section Open Division girls’ final at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
“It was a remarkable comeback,” Coach Judi Edwards said.
Fairfax sent the game into overtime when Kaylin Brown made a three-pointer from the baseline with 12 seconds left in regulation.
Palisades had no answer for Fairfax junior guard Dawnyel Lair, who finished with 35 points and constantly drove to the basket.
“They couldn’t stop her,” Edwards said.
But how did Fairfax rally?
“Honestly, we felt deflated but we knew we couldn’t give up,” Lair said.
Chelsey Gipson scored 28 points for Palisades and made six three-pointers. Kayla Williams scored 26 points.
City Division I: Sophomore Destiny Brown had 23 points, 26 rebounds and 10 blocks to lead Westchester past Venice, 71-57. Briana Anugwom added 17 points. Melissa Kitagawa led Vencie with 17 points.
Southern Section Division 1AA: Valencia weathered a late-game rally by Foothill League rival Canyon Country Canyon to take a 50-45 decision at Honda Center.
Valencia (27-5) led by 10 at halftime and by nine through three quarters before Canyon (21-10) cut its deficit to two, 45-43. Valencia’s Kayla Konrad led all scorers with 23 points. Talia Taufaasau led Canyon with 15.
Southern Section Division 3AA: Sophomore guard Lizzy Benton scored a game-high 22 points to lead Thousand Oaks past Glendora, 62-52, at Honda Center.
The Lancers led 30-29, at halftime before Benton’s nine third-quarter points helped Thousand Oaks take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter. Karlee Fink and Alexis Lowden each scored 13 points for Glendora.
Southern Section 2AA: Anaheim Rosary pulled out a 52-51 win over Camarillo in overtime at Azusa Pacific. Rebekiah Obinma had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Rosary.
Southern Section Division 4A: Beverly Hills came away with a 43-36 victory over Palmdale Knight at Asuza Pacific to win its first championship. Freshman point guard Arbri Gillis scored 20 points for the Normans.
Southern Section Division 6: Alyssa Maxey scored 34 points in Rolling Hills Prep’s 67-28 win over Simi Valley Grace Brethren at Godinez.
Twitter: latsondheimer
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