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Ms. Tanita. Photo, George Laase.
Just in – Culver City High School basketball player Taylor Tanita, a senior, has been named the Ocean League’s Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row.
By no coincidence, the Lady Centaurs were undefeated league champions for the second straight year. They went to the CIF D2A Finals and were invited, once again, to play in the state tourney.
Mr. Laase -Your thoughts on receiving your second straight Ocean League MVP Award.
Ms. Tanita -It’s really exciting to see that my hard work paid off. Most of the credit goes to my teammates. Without them, the two consecutive undefeated championships would not have been possible. Personal honors are exciting, but I’m really excited about our record.
Mr. Laase – Coach (Julian) Anderson gave you the moniker of The Little Engine That Could.
Ms. Tanita – He says what he says. It’s not that it’s bad. I just don’t know what to say about that.
Mr. Laase – While watching the team play through the season, “relentless” kept coming to mind.
Ms. Tanita – We had to be relentless, not having a starter over 5-foot 8. We were able to keep pressuring every opponent because our conditioning was so good we could eventually wear teams down that initially could have beaten us.
Mr. Laase – Summer league play and the summer workouts paid dividends.
Ms. Tanita – Coach Julian took so much time off over the summer teaching the girls all the plays, working with them individually. It especially showed in our post players. At the beginning of the season, they were raw. By the end of the season, they were really contributing a lot.
Mr. Laase – Take me back to the final play against Orange Lutheran when you won the game. What were you thinking as you were dribbling up the court?
Ms. Tanita – Before we in-bounded the ball, I knew how much time was left on the clock. Regardless of what happened, I was going to take the last shot. I dribbled down the court and was planning to drive the ball. I’m not sure what happened. I lost control, and I had to do a couple of pivots. I knew time was running out. I threw it up, and it went in. After losing so many seniors to graduation, the team and coaches asked a lot of freshman Kailey Tooke, junior Kelsey Ueda and senior Shannon Yahn. Kailey and Shannon were not even on the team last year. Kelsey was not a starter. Each girl knew she would have to step up. They did in ways we couldn’t have predicted. Shannon had to play post when she is only 5-5 or 5-6. Tooke, came in as a freshman, and she started on a team that went all the way to the CIF Finals. She definitely was the biggest surprise. We didn’t expect her to come to Culver. That changed our whole perspective of what we could accomplish this season. Having Shannon on the boards was crazy. We could not have done it without her.
Mr. Laase – Do you prefer to shoot, from outside or do you like to drive the ball?
Ms. Tanita —Depends on the game and what the opponent is giving me. If I’m not hitting from the outside, I try and drive, and get to the free-throw line. Against taller defenders, I tend to shoot a lot of floaters because it’s usually too hard for me to get layups. I’ll take whatever the defense gives me.
Mr. Laase —How did you develop the floater?
Ms. Tanita —When I began high school, I was really, really small, 4-foot-9. I knew I was going to have to develop a shot to get it over the bigger defenders. I knew I was never going to be a tall player, and the floater seemed to be the best option. I have to give a lot of credit to Savannah (Erskine) who was a senior when I was a freshman. She taught me a lot. Also I learned from watching all the good players on TV. The little guys always seemed to know how to get their shots off in the paint. Most of the time they would use the floater. I knew I had to develop it.
Mr. Laase – Do you have a chip on your shoulder because of your height?
Ms. Tanita – I don’t know. To think that I’m barely 100 pounds and I’m going against players much bigger, much taller. It makes me even more determined to show people I can play. It makes this ride so much more exciting. Nobody expected that I would accomplish what I have.
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
