When the CIF Southern Section Playoffs started a few weeks ago Culver City High School had five teams invited to the big dance. A few weeks later at Press Time (February 18) the Centaurs are down to one team that is trying to win a CIF championship
The girls’ basketball team played their quarterfinal game on Wednesday (Feb. 19) on the road against El Segundo. The girls’ soccer team lost their quarterfinal game last Tuesday (Feb. 18) 1-0 against Long Beach Poly. The boys’ soccer team was eliminated in the second round and the boys’ basketball team was expelled in the first round.
The girls water polo team was also eliminated in the first round. A lot of high schools did not have any teams in the CIF playoffs so the Centaurs can be proud of the fact that they had five teams competing against some of the best student athletes in Southern California.
The 22-7 girls’ basketball team won their first two games when they beat Yucaipa 52-40 in the first round, and they beat Diamond Ranch 54-39 in the second round. If they beat 19-11 El Segundo on Wednesday they will face the winner of the Cerritos versus Ridgecrest Burroughs game on Saturday in the semi finals, February 22. Check with Culver City High School to find out the location and time of that game.
The 13-9 girls’ soccer team won their first round game by beating Norco 3-2 and they won their second round game when they beat Camarillo 1-0 but they were eliminated by Long Beach Poly last Tuesday at home.
The 13-8 boys’ soccer team beat Irvine University 2-0 in the first round but they lost to Long Beach Poly 1-0 in the second round. The 22-7 boys’ basketball team lost their first round game 81-66 to Brentwood on the road, but winning 22 games was a major accomplishment for a team that was playing against taller teams practically the whole 29 game season.
“I thought the season overall was enjoyable and it was successful,” said Culver City boys head basketball coach Ray Singleton in a telephone interview a few days after their loss to Brentwood. “Despite the fact that we ended the season in a manner that we did not want to, but when you look at the bigger scope it was a wonderful season.”
What made the season special is that no one picked the Centaurs to win 22 games and place second in the eight team Ocean league behind Inglewood. “Our players ended the season the way they started the season,” said Singleton. “No injuries, the seniors get to graduate from high school, and they get to go on and experience life at the next level. I could not be prouder of the seniors and the lower classmen. Now it’s time for our lower classmen to start putting in the work and prepare for next season.”
Singleton continued to talk about the season, “I felt like I needed more time with the football players that joined the team after the football season because the majority of the starters were football players. That would have put us in a better position to be a better team. They probably needed more time to learn the system but overall, I am completely satisfied with the season.”
