Although the Palisades High boys finished only third in the Western League, the team was granted the No. 6 seed in the LA City basketball playoffs which start this week.
Palisades will open the playoffs Thursday, February 15, at King-Drew with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
A new LA City rule gives league champions a first round home game. So, oddly, Marine League champ King-Drew gets to play at home despite a No. 11 seeding.
The seeding committee took into account the strength of the Western League in making league champion Fairfax No. 1 and runner-up Westchester No. 2. Palisades, which has an 18-9 record, was considered an unusually strong third place team.
Taft, a perennial power, has been banned from the playoffs for using an ineligible player.
The Venice High girls, champions of the Western League, are the No. 3 seed and will host No. 14 Reseda Friday at 7.
Venice is 14-8 overall and was 10-0 in league games.
The playoffs will continue until March 3, when the boys and girls championship games will be played in the LA Sports Arena.