Sports
Samohi Boys B-Ball Team Can't Hold Halftime Lead
The Vikings were outplayed during the final two quarters of their 62-54 loss to Culver City on Friday night.
If only the game had ended the way it started for the boys basketball team on Friday.
The Vikings scored the first 11 points against Culver City, only to fade in the second half of a frustrating 62-54 loss that dropped defending champion Santa Monica to 0-2 in the Ocean League.
"Normally we're the ones who have to come back but tonight it was just the opposite," Santa Monica Coach James Hecht said. "When things start going against us we tend to lose fire in the belly. It's disheartening."
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Logan Foster made a three-pointer from the corner to give Santa Monica a 5-0 lead and that advantage grew to 11-0 on Jordan Matthews' short jumper. The Centaurs didn't score until Keilan Horton's three-pointer with 4:12 left in the opening quarter.
"We're obviously not the same team that we were last year," Hecht said. "We graduated our top 11 guys, and not a single player on this team has significant varsity minutes."
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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.
"Give them credit—they came out the aggressors in the second half," Hecht said. "They played four quarters of basketball and we didn't."
Culver City outscored the Vikings 45-25 in the second half and remained 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."
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 Horton intentionally with 26 seconds left. Horton calmly knocked down both free throws, then made two more with seven seconds left to clinch it.
Matthews finished with 25 points, Admassu Williams had eight and Jeremiah Shevlin added seven for the host Vikings, who had lost their league opener to Inglewood two nights earlier.
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.
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.
Bianka Balthazar scored 15 points to lead the Vikings (12-4, 1-1). Kristina Johnson had 12 points and Kalaria Obasi added for host Santa Monica, which trailed 46-43 going into the fourth quarter.
