Centaurs Water Polo Loses to Samohi

In its second key Ocean League game of the 2011-12 season, the Culver City High girls water polo team rattled several hard shots off the goalposts but couldn't put enough in the net in Thursday's frustrating 7-4 loss to Santa Monica.

"We had a really good game, we played even better than we did last year against them even though we didn't win," Centaurs team captain Karen Duenas said. "On defense we were talking to each other, we pressed them, we watched the driver. On offense, it was just that our shots and passes were off."

Santa Monica is ranked fifth in the latest CIF Southern Section Division 6 poll.

"We did a lot of bad things and we had terrible shots," Ruth Basurto said. "We left a lot of girls open, we didn't fall back on defense, especially in the beginning. We picked it up some in the last two quarters."

"I'm a little bit mad because we didn't finish the plays," Culver City Coach Nestor Dordoni, Sr. added. "Our shooting was horrible today. The girls tried very hard and gave 100 percent."

Two days earlier, in a tuneup for the first game against the Vikings, Culver City routed Los Angeles Marlborough 20-5, led by Basurto's 11 goals and 21 saves by goalie Amanda Duval. The Centaurs (2-2 in league) travel to archrival Beverly Hills for a 3 p.m. game Tuesday.