Culver City Observer -

High Five! It's been a very successful winter for Culver City High athletics this season. All five of the schools athletic programs for the 2019-20 Winter season have qualified for the CIF Playoffs. Girls water polo, girls soccer, boys soccer, girls basketball and boys basketball will begin post-season tournament action this week.

Girls water polo, led by head coach Nestor Dordoni, Jr., travel to Oxnard this Tuesday to take on Rio Mesa High at 5:00 p.m. in Round 1 of the Division 5 Playoffs. The Centaurs emerged out of the four-team Ocean League but it's going to be a tough challenge against the girl Spartans. Rio Mesa finished second place in the Ocean View League with an 8-2 record and 18-9 overall. The Culver girls won the CIF Division 6 title two seasons ago.

Girls soccer finished second in the Ocean League this season with a 7-2-1 record and will travel to Downey High this Thursday, February 13, at 4:00 p.m. for Round 1 of Division 2 Playoffs. Led by head coach Pete Bartlett, the Centaurs won three of their last four league games and tied El Segundo High, 1-1, in the other contest. They beat Lawndale High, 5-0, two weeks ago before sweeping Hawthorne High, 6-0, and Beverly Hills, 1-0, last week.

Last year, the Culver girls earned their way to the CIF Division 3 Playoff Semifinals before bowing out to Oak Hills, 1-0. Two weeks later they attained greater success by making it through to the CIF Division 3 Southern California Regional Finals before losing the Championship match to Flintridge Sacred Heart, 3-0. Under Coach Bartlett's 3-year reign as the head coach, the team has won two league titles and has posted an impressive composite league record of 22-4-4 and an overall record of 45-17-9.

The boys soccer team finished second in Ocean League with a 7-2-1 record and will host Fillmore High this Wednesday, February 12, 5:00 p.m. at Jerry Chabola Stadium. Fillmore finished third in the Citrus Coast League with a 5-2-3 record and 9-6-4 overall. The Centaurs are led by first-year head coach, Michael Castillo, and finished with a fine 10-3-3 overall record in his Culver City coaching debut.

The boys soccer team is in good form going into the CIF Division 4 Playoffs, having beaten Hawthorne, 6-0, and Beverly Hills, 5-1, to wrap up last week's Ocean League competition. Last season, under head coach, Louie Espeleta, the Centaurs finished second in Ocean League and advanced to Round 2 of the Division 4 Playoffs before losing a tough 1-0 battle at Tustin High.

The Culver City High girls basketball team has made the playoffs in each of the 11 seasons under head coach Julian Anderson. They will host the Walnut High Mustangs on Thursday, February 13, at 7:00 p.m. in Del Goodyear Gymnasium in Round 1 of the CIF Division 2A Playoffs. The Centaur girls finished second in the Ocean League this season with an 8-2 record and 15-10 overall.

Their only two defeats were overtime losses to rival Santa Monica High who finished in first place, undefeated at 10-0. Walnut High finished tied for second in the Hacienda League with a 7-3 record and 20-6 overall. The Mustangs won five straight games leading into the last weeks of the season before losing two of their last three games to rivals Los Altos High and West Covina High. The Culver girls lost in Round 2 of Division 2A Playoffs last season.

Centaur boys basketball has made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons under second-year head coach Roy Walker. The team finished third in Ocean League with a 7-3 record and will travel to Santa Barbara High on Wednesday, February 12, for a challenging CIF Division 2A match against the Dons. Santa Barbara won the Channel League with a 9-1 record and made it to the CIF Division 3A Semifinals last season.

Culver City started off the Ocean League with four consecutive wins this season before losing two straight to rivals Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. They finished strong with three straight wins before losing a tough one at home last week to Beverly Hills, 69-60. The Centaurs had a 12-point third-quarter lead erased, fought a see-saw battle before the tank emptied in the fourth quarter.

George Laase

Culver City's Aalirah Perkins (#12) pulls down an offensive rebound surrounded by Beverly Hills players last week.

If Culver City High girls water polo wins their match against Rio Mesa on Tuesday, they will advance to Round 2 to play the winner of Temecula Valley at Katella on Thursday, February 13, at 5:00 p.m. The girls soccer team will advance to Round 2 on Saturday, February 15, at 5:00 p.m. against the winner of the West Ranch vs. Mira Costa match if they defeat Downey this Thursday.

Centaur boys soccer will advance to Round 2 against the winner of Artesia and Crescenta Valley on Friday, February 14 if they defeat Fillmore this Wednesday. Girls basketball will advance to Round 2 to play San Clemente High on Saturday, February 15, at 7:00 p.m. if they defeat Walnut this Thursday. Boys basketball will advance to Round 2 to play the winner of Hesperia vs. JW North on Friday, February 14, at 7:00 p.m. if they defeat Santa Barbara on Wednesday night.

The End