Tough Week for Centaurs Squads

Last week wasn’t especially kind to the sports programs at . Many teams were either battling for first place or a berth in the playoffs, but not one got the results it was hoping for.

Early in the week, the boys and girls teams played Santa Monica High in basketball and soccer.

Both the boys and girls basketball teams were hoping to get a second win over the Vikings, having already posted victories in Santa Monica, but the visitors had other plans. Despite winning convincingly when the teams played on Jan. 14, the boys’ basketball team was unable to get it done at home, losing 59-58 on a missed last-second shot.

The boys then traveled to Inglewood for a rematch against the Sentinels. In the previous game, Inglewood had routed the Centaurs, 69-46. On Friday, it was much the same story as Inglewood again won convincingly, 61-49. The victory moved Inglewood to within one win of the Ocean League title and dropped the Centaurs (5-3 in league) into a second-place tie with Morningside.

The Culver City girls basketball team didn’t fare much better. Coach was speechless after his team's 53-30 bludgeoning at the hands of the Vikings on Wednesday night. The girls were coming off back-to-back wins against Beverly Hills and Morningside but the loss seemed to deflate them. The futility continued two nights later against Inglewood where the Centaurs were beaten 58-24. The loss leaves the girls in third place in the Ocean League at 5-2, one game ahead of Beverly Hills, who they play this week.

For the girls’ soccer team, last week’s games were a chance to secure a potential share of first place in the Ocean League. Their game against Santa Monica didn’t go as planned. It was a physical affair–a little too physical for head coach , who called it “reckless”–and Culver City came out on the losing end, 3-2. Santa Monica moved comfortably into second place with the victory, half a game behind Beverly Hills.

Not all was lost for the Centaurs, however. They beat Inglewood 3-0 Friday, giving them a 5-2-1 league record and locking them into third place and assuring them a spot in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

The boys’ soccer team will spend this week fighting for its playoff life after losing to both Santa Monica and Inglewood last week. Those two losses put the Centaurs at 3-5 in league, tied for fourth place with Morningside.