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Culver High Principal Dylan Farris accepts runnerup trophy for Lady Centaurs on Friday afternoon. Photo, George N. Laase.
This will be a season to remember for the Culver City High School girls basketball team.
Although the Lady Centaurs lost the CIF Division 2-A final to Murrieta Valley, 49-37, last Friday afternoon at the Anaheim Convention Center, getting to the finals is what girls and boys dream about the first time they pick up a basketball.
The dream season continues. The girls play at Granada Hills High School in the Division II Southern California Regional playoffs on Wednesday.
If they win, they will play an opponent to be determined Saturday at 7 p.m. If the Lady Centaurs win on Saturday, they will play on Tuesday, also at 7 p.m.
“We lost nine seniors,” said junior forward Kelsey Ueda, “so at the beginning of the season, we did not realize how good we could be.
“But as the season moved on, we knew we had something special.”
Something special was a 24-6 overall record, a perfect 10-0 in the Ocean League and three wins in the CIF playoffs before losing to Murrieta Valley.
They beat Mayfair 53-33 in the second round, Moorpark 47-39 in the quarterfinals and Orange Lutheran a week ago today 42-40 in the semi-finals.
“The cohesiveness of this group is what makes us successful,” said third-year varsity coach Julian Anderson. “We don’t have everyone pulling at each other.”
Anderson has been coaching basketball for 17 years, and his style of coaching fits Culver City. Although Anderson teaches an upbeat fast-paced game, he remains calm and under control during the games.
The Lady Centaurs are led by point guard Taylor Tanita, who hit the winning shot at the buzzer to beat Orange Lutheran in the CIF semi-final, by center Shannon Yahn, freshmen forward Kailey Tooke and forward Ueda.
When the Centaurs coach talks about three of his star players, his eyes light up. “Taylor is probably the best player in the area,” said Anderson about his point guard. “Her basketball knowledge is very high. She loves to compete, and she loves the game of basketball.”
Ueda led the Centaurs in scoring and rebounding in the CIF Championship game. She had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lady Centaurs. “She is one of the toughest girls I have ever seen,” said Anderson about Ueda. “If she gets hurt, you have to drag her off the court. She never wants to come out of the game.”
Freshmen forward Tooke is a mirror of her coach on the court. Always in control, she does not get excited. “Her future is bright,” Coach Anderson said. “If we can get her in the weight room to make her stronger, you will see her playing Division I college basketball.”
When you talk about stars of the team, you cannot forget senior center Yahn, a transfer from Texas. “Last year was my first year of playing organized basketball,” said Yahn. “I knew that we had a good team because everybody works hard to be the best that we can be.”
With all of the good thing that have happened to this team, the future looks even brighter. Only two seniors are on the team.
Mr. Finley may be contacted at sfinley50@aol.com
