Highlights: Palisades pulls away from Atwater in second half for second place at Tarkanian Classic

Palisades won 68-56 with a spirited second half effort to move on to the Sapphire Division finals

HENDERSON, Nev. - It goes without saying that California teams have a heavy presence at the Tarkanian Classic each and every year.

This year's Sapphire Division (girls) was an extreme example.

The top three teams – Birmingham (L.A. City Section), Palisades (L.A. City), and Atwater (Central) – were all from California.

On Wednesday in the semifinals, Palisades took a two-possession lead into halftime against Atwater, and withstood a brief Falcons run at the start of the third to win 68-56. That set up a Thursday title game for the Dolphins against familiar foe Birmingham. Atwater went on to rout Desert Hills (UT) 66-41 in the third place game on Thursday.

Here are all the highlights from the action-packed second half (video embedded).

– Lance Smith | lance@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveca