The Los Angeles City Section Open Division Championship on Saturday will feature the top two seeds in the playoff bracket in No. 1 Fairfax and No. 2 Palisades.
Fairfax comes in with an overall record of 22-5 and a 11-1 clip in league play. Palisades is 25-8 overall and also 11-1 in league play; the teams finished tied atop the Western Division Standings.
The Lions rank ahead of the Dolphins nationally; Fairfax is 115th while Palisades is 253rd. To reach the final, Fairfax defeated Legacy in the first round on Feb. 18 and Granada Hills in the semifinals in a thrilling overtime win. In that game, the Lions trailed by seven in the fourth quarter, but came back to win.
Versatile team captain Fatou Semebene, who finished with 17 points, tied the game with 13.1 seconds left in regulation, and the Lions were able to pull off the overtime win. Fairfax is paced Dawnyel Lair, who led the team with 30 points in the semifinal victory.
Palisades’ route to the final was a little bit easier. They cruised past Narbonne 79-27 in round one and beat El Camino Real 75-60 in the semis. The Dolphins are led by superstar talent Chelsey Gipson, who, with a win, would become the first player to win an open championship in each of her four high school seasons (she won it as a freshman at Windward). Palisades has won the championship the last two years.
Gipson scored 27 points in the semifinal, while guard Kayla Williams led the way with 28 points.
The championship game will be Saturday at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
