After winning the CIF 2AA championship last Friday night over Mira Costa, the Culver City High School girls basketball team does not have much time to celebrate.
Tomorrow evening the Lady Centaurs, who are 29-4, open the state Regional playoffs with a 7 o’clock game in Del Goodyear Gymnasium against Roosevelt High of Los Angeles.
Welcome to the high school version of March Madness.
If Culver City beats Roosevelt, the second round game in the state playoffs also will be at home, at 6 o’clock Saturday evening, against the winner of Garces Memorial of Bakersfield (30-3) vs. Patriot of Riverside (25-4).
Culver City is the No. 4 seed in the 16-team Southern California Division II State Regionals.
The Lady Centaurs capped off a magnificent season by winning the 32-team CIF championship with a 55-49 victory over Mira Costa, on a neutral court, Godinez High School, Santa Ana.
This was Culver City’s first girls’ basketball championship in 35 years.
To capture the CIF 2AA championship, Culver City had to win five games, starting with a 75-47 decision over Elsinore.
In the second round, they walloped Eisenhower 58-36 before winning the quarter-finals against Foothill 56-49.
In the semi-finals, the Lady Centaurs defeated Norco 68-55.
“It feels great,” said Culver City Coach Julian Anderson after the title game.
“As a player, I was 0-5 in championship games. So this feels really good. “
Tracing an outline of the game, Coach Anderson said that “we built a lead, then we had to make adjustments when Mira Costa made their run.”
He commended his players for doing “an excellent job of keeping their composure.”
The Centaurs held a 26-17 halftime lead. Mira Costa took a 45-44 lead in the fourth quarter before Culver City rallied.
The Lady Centaurs were led by their three stars — Michelle Curry, 22 points and 12 rebounds, Kelsey Ueda, 12 points, and she played all 32 minutes, and Kailey Tooke, 11 points.
Ueda once again kept the Lady Centaurs focused when Curry got into foul trouble in the fourth quarter.
“It feels amazing,” said a very happy Ueda. “It’s hard to describe how I really feel, especially because it’s my senior year. This is like a dream come true. Now we have to start all over and get ready for the state tournament.”
She had feelings about the losing team, too.
“I knew some of the Mira Costa players,” said Ueda. “Mira Costa did a great job. Their players were awesome.”
Mr. Finley may be contacted at sfinley50@aol.com
