The weather is getting colder but the basketball season for the Culver City boys and girls teams is starting to heat up. Both teams travel to Torrance Friday to battle the Tartars. The girls play at 6 p.m. followed by the boys at 7:30 p.m. The Centaur boys’ team is 6-7 and the girls are 7-8. The Torrance teams are 6-8 and 2-5, respectively.
Both Centaur teams hope to win and carry momentum into next weeks’ league opener. Both teams travel to Lawndale next Wednes-day with the girls’ game tipping off at 6 p.m. and the boys’ at 7:30 p.m. Last month the boys’ team won the San Gabriel Tournament.
The holiday tournament started the day after Christmas with a 49-44 loss to Arroyo of El Monte. After that loss the Centaurs went on to win the next two games by defeat-ing Blair of Pasadena 84-66 and Aquinas of San Bernardino 49-43 before beating host San Gabriel 64-62 in overtime in the champion-ship game.
“The championship game was one of the most fun games that I have ever coached in,” Culver City coach Adam Eskridge said. “It was nip and tuck the whole way with both teams playing really hard and making big plays. We still have a lot of growing to do and the competition will only get more difficult but I think we should be a more confident and improved team in the future.”
The girls are facing adversity for the first time in three years. The defending CIF and Ocean League champions have lost several games in a row and are still trying to replace two All-CIF players, Michelle Curry and Kelsey Ueda who graduated. The Centaurs will rely on their quickness and defense if they expect to win the Ocean League.
Culver City’s boys’ soccer team travels to the City of Littlerock, California to play Littlerock High School on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The boys’ first league game is Wednesday at Lawndale at 3 p.m. The girls’ soccer team will host Lawndale next Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Jerry Chabola Field.