Sometimes a player’s personality gets in the way of their greatness. Kailey Tooke is that kind of player. She is quiet and unassuming but inside beats the heart of a lion. That lion roared loud and clear last Saturday inside the Del Goodyear gym on the Culver City high school campus.
Tooke, a senior, scored 46 points in a second round CIF playoff game against a very good Long Beach Millikan team. The final score was 72-69. Culver City won their first round playoff game 62-42 against Arcadia. In that game Tooke scored 26 points. The Centaurs will need Tooke to continue her great play because they faced an outstanding Redondo Union team yesterday.
“She would have scored 50 points if she had made all of her free throws,” said head coach Julian Anderson. “Because of her quiet demeanor I did not realize she had that many points and I think the other team didn’t realize it either.”
A lot of people compare Tooke’s game to Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. On the court Leonard is considered to be the best two-way player in the NBA. Off the court he is very quiet and shy. When both players give interviews to the media you can barely hear their answers and they don’t have a lot to say. They do their talking on the basketball court. Quiet are not, Anderson is happy to have had Tooke on his varsity basketball team the past four years.
Tooke had plenty of help in their two playoff wins. “Windy Yoon played the whole game against Millikan,” said Anderson. “The fight in her was really great. Heaven Cooper stepped up in the second half against Millikan and for a freshman to adjust her game like that was great. Kate Suyetsugu, the other senior on the team has really stepped up in the playoffs. Her experience has really helped us. Although she has been injured her just being out on the court has been tremendous for us. She is doing everything she can do to end her senior year on a high note.”
Anderson continues to say, “I have been very critical of this years’ team. I have been hoping and wishing that they reach their full potential but I realize they are a young team. The mark of a good season is not the wins and losses but it’s the type of wins and losses. The games that you are not supposed to win on paper are the games where you are happy to get a victory, when you are the underdog. That feels great.”
The Centaurs are 20-7 and Redondo was 20-8 going into yesterday’s playoff game. 25
