The Culver City boy’s and girls’ varsity basketball teams open league play at home on Friday against Compton Centennial high school. The girls game starts at 6 p.m. and the boys tip off at 7:30 p.m. inside the Del Goodyear gym on the Culver City High School campus.
The boys’ team is currently 9-2 and the girls’ team is 6-5. Both teams use an eight-person rotation. Although the starting lineups in basketball consists of five players, when you rotate players it’s good for team morale.
“Any one of our eight players can be starters,” said Culver City boys head coach Ray Singleton this week. “Some of the guys coming in off the beach are just as good as the guys that start. It’s really a team effort. To be honest, rotating players create a family atmosphere. They genuinely like playing with each other but at the same time they don’t mind getting on each other and holding each other accountable.”
According to Singleton, playing a lot of players during games helps keep the practices competitive. “We have 18 players on the varsity team. We have eight guys that are battling for rotation playing time and we have 10 other players who are trying to move into the rotation. It’s a good recipe for competitive and balanced practices.
“I am trying to get some of the new players ready for varsity basketball,” said Singleton. We are trying to get them ready for the size and the speed of varsity basketball so going into next year they will have a better idea of what to expect.”
Singleton is also trying to get the boys’ team ready for a tough and competitive league. The league will test Culver City every week. Teams like Inglewood, Leuzinger and Lawndale will be hard to beat. “The team to beat is Inglewood,” said Singleton. Culver City’s 9-2 start has a lot to do with their talent and team chemistry. “The main eight guys have played together for the past three years, and they really like each other. The team has a real competitive spirit. They want to go out on the court and play hard and put forth their best effort.”
The Culver City girls’ basketball team also has an eight-player rotation. The Lady Centaurs are coming off a double overtime loss to Paramount last week and a 52-44 loss to East Los Angeles Garfield last Monday but according to veteran head coach Right after Christmas. On Dec. 27, the girls will be headed to Portland, Oregon for a holiday tournament. The Centaurs will play three games in the tournament. “I think traveling brings the kids closer together,” said Anderson. “It helps them get away from home and not have a lot of outside distractions. This gives them a chance to get to know each other better. Playing against teams from other states is going to be exciting for all of us.”