Palmdale Completes Trip From Bottom of Golden League to Top in 1 Season

A Golden League doormat only a season ago, the Palmdale High boys’ basketball team accomplished the improbable Friday night by winning a share of the league title for the first time in 19 seasons.

The host Falcons completed a worst-to-first season by edging Antelope Valley, 59-57, in a Golden League finale.

Palmdale (15-9, 10-5 in league play), which last won the league title in 1974, is league co-champion with Quartz Hill, but will advance as the league’s No. 1-seeded team for the playoffs. Antelope Valley finished 13-10, 8-7.

The game’s hero, Rocque Sandoval, was as unlikely as his team’s surprising climb from the cellar (1-9 in the league last season).

Sandoval, a 6-foot-1 junior, came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points, 10 of which came in a nail-biting fourth quarter.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Sandoval said. “Those little layups are easy to make.”

The game looked as if it would be a laugher in the first quarter as Palmdale opened with an 18-1 run.

The Antelopes, who scored only five points on free throws by John Sanders in the first quarter, did not make a field goal until two minutes into the second quarter.

By that time, Palmdale had a commanding 22-6 advantage.

It remained a 10-point game throughout most of the second half until the Antelopes made a run at Palmdale in the game’s final 2:35.