Crenshaw girls basketball fires on all cylinders, beats Palisades in Open Division quarterfinals: 5 takeaways

LOS ANGELES – Crenshaw girls basketball is headed to the City Section Open Division semifinals for the first time ever.

All the stars shined bright on Thursday as the Cougars defeated Palisades 69-52 with some emphasis. The victory marks Crenshaw's second of the season against Palisades after a 58-37 win on Jan. 6.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. THE FIRST QUARTER WAS TIGHT...

When these teams faced off a month ago, Crenshaw totaled 16 steals and forced upwards of 20 turnovers. In doing so, it kept Pali out of its half-court offense and created easy looks in transition.

The first quarter looked to be a new leaf for the Dolphins. They kept Crenshaw from speeding them up and executed offensively to finish with a 14-13 lead. There didn't appear to be any playoff jitters anywhere as the teams combined for five made threes in the first quarter.

2. ...BUT THEN IT WAS ALL CRENSHAW

As soon as the second quarter started, the Cougars took control of the game and never relinquished it. They held Palisades scoreless through the first four minutes of the frame to lead 20-14 and led 25-17 at the half.

In the third quarter, both teams exactly matched their scoring output from the first two quarters, and Crenshaw finished up 50-34 to match its biggest lead of the game.

Crenshaw got its lead up past 20 points at times in the fourth quarter before Palisades made a late push to cut it to 14. But the Dolphins ran out of time to come within striking distance, and Crenshaw won 69-52.

3. COUGARS FOLLOW USUAL WINNING RECIPE

What changed after the first quarter for the Cougars? They turned up the full-court trapping defensively, and they got the same result as in the first meeting – lots of forced turnovers, even a few unforced ones, and good transition looks galore. 

The Cougars played nearly the whole game in attack mode, played uptempo on offense, and set the tone physically. In short, it was another night at the office for them, but a particularly impressive one.

After a quiet first quarter, PG Dalayja Floyd-Hurt was in control for the rest of the game. She came in averaging nearly 7 steals per game, and looked the part of an incredible ball thief and overall excellent defensive player on Thursday. In addition to racking up 14 points and a bevy of steals, she set her teammates up and overall dictated the tempo of the game.

Entering the game averaging a team-high 14.1 PPG, G Citlali Salazar led all scorers with 22 points, with 17 of them coming in the second half. Sophomore F Naomi Whitfield had perhaps the best performance of her career by tying a season-high 17 points, with 10 coming in the third quarter. Additionally, Destiny Floyd-Hurt came out hot with a pair of threes in the first quarter, and Bailey Prewitt hit three in the fourth quarter to total 11 points on the night.

4. PALISADES' HALF-COURT OFFENSE A BRIGHT SPOT 

For Palisades to score 52 points on a night when it turned the ball over nearly 25 times is a testament to some good half-court offense. When Pali could hold onto the ball, it consistently did what it's known to do – keep the ball hopping, feed its inside scorers, and step into threes that were created inside-out.

Taylor Arnold was a force inside, and had a team-high 17 points and 7 rebounds to go with 3 assists. Alyssa Ramirez was incendiary, hitting a three in the first quarter and four in the third quarter – including a couple from way downtown – to finish with 15 points. Elise Arnold hit two threes on the way to notching 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Overall the Dolphins' half-court offense left almost nothing to be desired.

5. BEST-SHOOTING CRENSHAW TEAM SINCE...?

Part of what makes Crenshaw so dangerous is that it can live by the three but it rarely dies by the three. The Cougars can space the floor five out, and on their better shooting nights, they can crush teams from downtown. However, they are more apt to seek out good looks at the rim, and with all their floor-spacing, they're getting plenty of those. 

In recent years, Crenshaw has had some knockdown shooters and its had some teams that could really space the floor. But this year's starting five might be taking it to the next level in terms of consistency and ability to hit over a defender that's closing out. If the Cougars keep shooting like this, it'll be very hard for anyone to stop them defensively.

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