Culver City Observer -

With six losses in their first eight non-league games, the Culver City High boy’s basketball team doesn’t have the look of a contender for the Ocean League championship.

Defending champion Santa Monica and Inglewood appear to be the class of the six league teams.

But there’s hope for the Centaurs to have a successful season. Three Ocean League teams are assured of a CIF playoff berth and often a fourth or even a fifth place team is selected. The Centaurs don’t have a lot of size but the do have speed and depth, so they could adjust to new head coach Adam xx style and make a playoff run.

Santa Monica has one of its best teams in James Hecht’s 19 years as head coach. The Vikings return key players from last season’s team which went 9-1 in the Ocean League and have added talent from their junior varsity, which went 24-2 last season.

Santa Monica has lost only three non-league games, two to powerhouse Loyola and one to Chaminade. Santa Monica took third place in its own tournament last week, an event won by undefeated Loyola.

Inglewood, like Santa Monica, has most key players back from last season and has added three important transfers.

Chris Edwards, Armani Nicolis and Wesley Dixon have earned Player of the Game honors for Culver City this season.

The victories have been over LA City Section opponents Carson and Fremont.

The Centaur girl’s team has a 3-2 non-league record, with no games played yet at home. The victories have been over Compton, Reseda and Redondo.