High school basketball swings into high gear in 2019 because all of the teams have started their league play. League records determine CIF playoffs spots and that’s extremely important because every team wants home court advantage in the playoffs.
The Culver City girls are off and running in the Ocean League. They are 3-0 in league play at press time and they play their next league game at Hawthorne on Friday at 7:30 p.m. They are 10-6 overall and their head coach, Julian Anderson is optimistic.
“We are young and we have room for improvement,” said Anderson. “We have not been this young in a long time. It’s exciting but at the same time we have a long hill to climb but it will be fun. Eight of their 12 players are freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.
For the past few years, the Centaurs have relied on different combinations to dominate the Ocean league. This year they hope speed and height can continue their success. “We are actually taller than I thought we would be,” said Anderson. “We are bigger and a lot faster and we are pretty athletic but we just have to put it all together. We need to play together better and become more of a unit. If they can do that they will enjoy playing with each other.”
Several of the returning players will need to step up if the Centaurs expect to make a run deep into the CIF playoffs. Right now those players are Heaven Cooper, Amy Yoon, and Junie Dickson. Cooper plays center and forward, Yoon is a point guard and Dickson plays guard and forward.
“We are looking good this year but I have to step on and off the court and be more of a leader,” said Dickson.” I think one through 10 we are a pretty deep team. I think this team has a lot of talent. We have a lot of fresh talent and hopefully, we can use that talent to go 10-0 in the Ocean League. That’s what we are looking forward to doing.”
Dickson knows there is a certain standard that comes with being a Culver City girls basketball player. Success will do that to a program and the Centaurs have been extremely successful for a long time. That success includes many league titles and a CIF Championship. “I try not to put too much pressure on myself but I am proud to be a part of the success of this program. We hope we can continue the legacy.”