Early February can only mean one thing for Culver City High athletics… it’s CIF playoff time. This week four programs will be competing in their respective postseason quests. The girls and boys soccer teams will be at home for first-round action while the
girls and boys basketball teams begin the 2019 Playoffs on the road.
Just like the other three programs boys basketball coach Roy Walker and his staff has been preparing his team all year long for the postseason push: “I tell my guys to lean on my coaching staff’s experience in the playoffs.”
“Kids see the summer and spring breaks arise and start to get weary. We’re just letting them understand that it’s a process. We want to go out and perform and give 110% effort every game. That’s the main focus and key for us.”
The girls soccer team coached by Pete Bartlett finished tied for first place with Beverly Hills Hills. The Centaur girls hosts Knight High from Palmdale this Wednesday to open the CIF Division 3 tournament. The girls had a 12-6-4 overall record and finished 7-2-1 in the Ocean League standings. Santa Monica finished third at 7-3 while El Segundo was fourth at 6-4.
The boys soccer team will host Fillmore High on Thursday. The Centaurs finished second in the Ocean League this season with a 5-3-2 record behind undefeated El Segundo who took the title with a 10-0 record. The boys had an 8-6-4 overall record under head coach Louie Espeleta. Santa Monica High finished in third place in league with a 5-4-1 record.
The girls basketball team under head coach Julian Anderson will take a trip out this Thursday night to Bonita High in La Verne to take on the Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. Bonita tied for first place with Glendora High in the Palomares League. Remarkably, the Centaur girls have won or tied for the Ocean League title in seven of the last eight seasons.
The boys basketball team will travel down the 405 Freeway to take on West Torrance High this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. The Centaurs finished in third place with a 6-4 record in the Ocean League behind undefeated league champion Beverly Hills at 10-0 and Santa Monica in second place at 8-2. All four of Culver’s league losses were to Beverly and SaMo.
Despite a lost 57-42 at Beverly last Thursday, Coach Walker believes his team will be ready for the playoffs: “I gave my guys a couple of days off just to focus and understand that this is a new season. My strength and conditioning coach, Anthony Brown, does a great job in the preseason in getting our guys ready and prepared.”
“I tell my guys to lean on my coaching staff’s experience in the playoffs. Kids see the summer and spring breaks arise and start to get weary. We’re just letting them understand that it’s a process. We want to go out and perform and give 110% effort every game. That’s the main focus and key for us.”
West Torrance is a well-coached team and very familiar to Walker and his staff. The Centaurs will need to play lock down defense while trying to get plenty of possessions in order to put up a lot of shots to be effective against the Warriors. West finished second in the Pioneer League with a 7-3 record in the Pioneer League behind first place Inglewood High at 8-2.
“We know some of the kids in the Torrance area and they are always up to play. They’ll be ready come Friday,” said Walker.
“It’s what this time of the year is about, to go in as an underdog away from home. This is a testament as to why we don’t play home games in the preseason. It’s something that we’re used to. We want West to get ready to play 32 minutes of hell.”
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