Jordan Mathews leads Santa Monica past Palisades

Surfers, skateboarders and beachgoers rejoiced Saturday night. They got to avoid the usual traffic jams to pack the Santa Monica High gym for a Division I state basketball playoff game between two Westside schools less than five miles apart.

Santa Monica and Palisades engaged in an old-fashioned neighborhood showdown, and what an entertaining show it was.

Palisades, a City Section Division I semifinalist, seemed to take control in the third quarter and led by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter. But Santa Monica (27-6) has Jordan Mathews on its team, and all he did was score 41 points to rally the top-seeded Vikings to a 76-63 overtime victory.

Santa Monica’s Chris Smith missed the first and made the second free throw with 4.2 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, 62-62. Then Smith scored three baskets in overtime to ignite the Vikings before a wild home crowd.

“That was the craziest game I’ve been a part of,” Mathews said. “It was everything it was supposed to be and more. You couldn’t have asked for a better atmosphere.”

Ammar Rehman led Palisades (22-10) with 22 points.

In the third quarter, Palisades had eight players contribute points while Santa Monica was still trying to rely exclusively on Mathews. The Chambers twins, Dakota and Colton, each had dunks.

Palisades opened a 49-43 lead but had to settle for a 49-46 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

In other state playoff games Saturday, Los Angeles Loyola rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Lake Forest El Toro, 81-70. Parker Jackson-Cartwright had 25 points and 10 assists. Max Hazzard had 17 points and Andrew Johnson 14.

Crenshaw defeated Rancho Verde, 61-59, on a basket by Micah Winn with four seconds left.