By Steve Finley and Mike Cohen The Culver City boys’ basketball team played four balanced quarters for the first time since its late January victory against Hawthorne. The Centaurs’ 68-47 blowout win versus Westminster (18-9 overall, 10-0 in league) last Thursday at Westminster in the first round of the CIF Division 2AA playoffs proved they can win when they play a complete game.
Their second round playoff game was Tuesday at Culver City and ended with a 76-78 loss against third seeded Westlake. Westlake High School of Westlake Village has an overall record of 22-7 and 13-1 in the Marmonte League and will move on to the next round.
Culver City, 12-15 overall, won only two-league games out of 10, yet they ousted Westminster.
“We knew Westminster probably took us lightly because of our record,” senior Chris Edwards said. “Our hard schedule made us humble and hungry. Now hopefully we can shock another team.”
The Centaurs used a balanced scoring attack to beat Westminster.
Isaac Girley had 16, Armani Nicolis scored 15, Edwards had 12 and Jordan Williams added nine. Sophomore Kyle Johnson filled in for injured starter Wesley Dixon coming off the bench to give the Centaurs depth in the front court. Dixon injured his ankle in practice last Tuesday.
“Kyle is one of our best athletes from the junior varsity team, and he is starting to play smart basketball,” Centaur coach Adam Eskridge said.
The backup center had only played a few minutes this season. Yet, Johnson had three defensive rebounds, three blocks and several key layups.
The Centaurs played intense defense, shared the ball and held a 33-20 lead at halftime. Culver City buried three pointers and played sound defense in the second half.
Nicolis pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out four assists. Chris Edwards had six steals and six assists. Isaac Girley contributed five assists and made three steals. Culver City has relied on its big three scorers all season, and Thursday night they came through.
“I told Chris, Armani and Isaac that we will go as far as they will take us,” Eskridge said. “I also told them they can’t do it by themselves. All three have to play well and they must rely on their teammates if we expect to win games.”
Although Culver City scored 68 points against Westminster it was the defense that won the game.
“We had a mind set to stop their two top scorers that average 50 points between them,” said Nicolis.
“I was concentrating on stopping their top scorer (Tyler Burch). That was the hardest I have ever played defense in my life.” Burch, a 6-6 junior, averages 28 points a game. Culver City held him to 21 points.
Burch expressed his disappointed after the loss.
“We played a bad first half,” Burch said. “Culver City played really good defense against us. They were really quick and they played us tough.”
Eskridge was pleased with the effort against Westminster.
“The last week of practice was really good,” Eskridge said. “The energy was great. The three players we brought up from the junior varsity team really energized our team.”
Sometimes losing can make or break a team.
“The players hated the way the regular season ended,” Eskridge said. “They wanted to show everyone that they are a good team.”
“We were tired of losing,” Girley said.
“The kids played with energy and teamwork,” assistant coach Dave Gordon said. “Strategy was good, and performance was there.”
