The Culver City High School girls’ basketball season is only a week old, but one thing is for sure, they appear to lack size, and they are a little short on experience. After their 46-43 loss to a good Los Angeles City Section Hamilton team last Thursday, long time Culver City coach Julian Anderson is hoping the team will grow up fast. They are currently 1-1 after beating City Section Garfield 50-36 and falling to Hamilton.
“We are a young team,” said Anderson after the loss to Hamilton. “We have to do a better job of getting our shooters the ball. A lot of that is on me. We tried a couple of things, and it just didn’t work out.”
Culver City missed a lot of shots that could have easily gone in but that’s the way the ball bounces sometimes. “When those shots are not falling, I tell the players to keep shooting when their shots are not falling. Right now we have a better chance of knocking down jump shots than we do attacking the basket because we don’t have a lot of size.”
Anderson is trying to encourage the younger players. “Our shots came close tonight but some of our girls are nineth graders so I understand they might be a little nervous.”
Although the team is young with just a few returning veterans Anderson wants to see improvement. “We just want the team to get better. We want them to get in the gym and improve. Really that’s it at the end of the day. We also want them to improve on their mental toughness. Right now, as a young team we are going through trails and tribulations. If we can continue to play hard like we did tonight against Hamilton we will be alright. We just need to keep fighting.”
Helping the Lady Centaurs keep their young team focused are veteran players, senior Makenna Lohmann, who was an All-CIF player last year and junior Beatrix Wada. Both players lead by example. “We just need to stay under control and not panic so much,” said Lohmann after the game against Hamilton. “I tell the players to keep shooting and doing what you are doing and find other options to score.” Because Lohmann is being double teamed a lot this year she is looking to pass the ball to her teammates.
Wada is taking on more of a leadership role this year. “I tell the team to keep going and be confident with their shot. I think it’s more mental for us right now.”
The Lady Centaurs’ next home games are November 26, at 4 p.m. against Rolling Hills Prep and December 2, against Paramount at 6 p.m.
