Centaurs Rally to Beat Santa Monica

It sounds silly to suggest that the Culver City High boys' basketball team was right where it wanted to be at halftime of Friday night's Ocean League game against Santa Monica. 

The Centaurs trailed 29-17 through two quarters, yet they came out for warm ups before the start of the third quarter looking as relaxed and confident as a team up by 20. That's because they'd been in the same position many times before.

Culver City outscored the Vikings 45-25 in the second half to win, 62-54, and remain undefeated in the Ocean League.

"We were a little worried [at halftime], but it gave us a sense of urgency and we picked up the pace," said junior forward Aamahd Walker, who finished with 23 points and sparked Culver City's comeback. "Our defense was a lot better [in the second half]. This was a very important game, just like Morningside. Winning back-to-back games on the road says a lot about our team."

Walker drove to the basket and made a layup as he was fouled. He sank the subsequent free throw to pull the Centaurs within a point at 52-51 with 2:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, then finished a fast break with another three-point play that gave Culver City its first lead, 54-52, with 2:36 left.

With the game tied 54-54, Walker's layup gave the Centaurs the lead for good. Moments later, Santa Monica's Jordan Matthews was whistled for an offensive foul—his fourth—and Rufus Humphrey made a bank shot to increase Culver City's lead to 58-54 with 1:06 remaining.

Santa Monica (6-10, 0-2) came up empty on its ensuing possession and Matthews fouled Keilan Horton intentionally with 26 seconds left. Horton calmly knocked down both free throws, then made two more with seven seconds left to clinch it.

Horton had 17 points, Humphrey had 15 and Jaylen Pulliam-Carpenter had five points and eight assists.

One reason for the Centaurs' turnaround was a change in defensive strategy.

"We played more of a zone pressure in the first half but it was soft," Culver City assistant coach Adam Eskridge said. "We switched to a trapping full-court press in the second half and were able to generate a lot more turnovers."

Culver City (14-3, 2-0) went from forcing one steal in the first half to 1o steals in the second half—a testament to the Centaurs' never-say-die mentality.  

"This team has a lot of toughness, a lot of character and a lot of heart," Eskridge said. "Inglewood is tough and we play them next at our place. Winning these first two on the road was big but this next game is even bigger." 

In the preceding girls' game, Culver City won 62-56 on the strength of 22 points from Jade Neal, 15 by Taylor Tanita, 12 by Markie Samler and seven by Kelsey Veda. The Centaurs (10-8, 2-0) led 34-32 at halftime.

Tanita made four crucial free throws in the final two minutes to seal the victory.