Popoola twins lead Palisades to City Open Division basketball title
When the horn sounded to end the City Section Open Division boys basketball final Friday night, the first person OJ and EJ Popola 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 in hopes of making their dad proud and boosting the city’s morale.
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 LA Southwest College.
Jack Levey made five three-pointers, bringing his season total to 108, and Phil Reed scored 13 points.
“It 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 will come back next year to defend the title,” added EJ Popoola. “My father’s team failed but we finished the job.”
Playing the finals at a neutral site was nothing new for a team that did not play in its own gymnasium for 42 straight games — over a span of 388 days — following last year’s Palisades fire.
“We accomplished two goals, winning the league and City,” second-year coach Jeff Bryant said. “Now the state is the third goal.”
Palisades (20-11) was in control from the start. OJ Popoola made a three-pointer from the corner, Reed came up with a steal and scored on a layup, and Levey passed to OJ Popoola for a dunk, making the score 7-0 after just 55 seconds. The Dolphins increased the lead to 25-8 at the end of the first quarter and the lead was 19 at halftime.
Both teams lost in the Open Division semifinals last winter and were preseason favorites to play for the title. They earned the top seeds in the eight-team bracket after each finishing first in their league.
The Dolphins claimed the title of the city’s top team for the first time since 1969, when the Palisades beat 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 division in the playoffs. Leading that team was forward Chris Marlowe, who was named MVP after scoring 29 points in the title game. He later became captain of the U.S. Olympic volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Since its opening in 1961, Palisades has been the crown jewel of the City Section, winning more than 260 titles in all sports (more than twice as many as the nearest school), but only the third in men’s basketball.
Palisades won the Division I crown six years ago under former coach Donzell Hayes, who was a teammate of Chris Popoola on the 1995-96 Dolphins 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 came full circle,” Chris Popoola said, later referring to 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 over Fairfax in the semifinals, was held to 13 — which was part of Bryant’s pregame plan.
Sergine Deme scored 19 points and made 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 has come within 15 points of Palisades, which now waits to see which division it will play in for the state playoffs.
“We’re not done,” OJ Popoola said.
“We can compete with anyone,” EJ added.
