Girls basketball suffers first Ocean League loss

Samo girls basketball lost 48-60 to Culver City High School in its first defeat in Ocean League play. While the team’s games this season have thus far been fast-paced and difficult to call down to the last few minutes, on Wednesday, Jan. 20, Samo seemed to accept their defeat early on in the third quarter. Head coach Marisa Silvestri credits the team’s performance,in part, to Culver’s intimidating reputation and confidence.“We were kind of anxious before and their early energy threw us off,” Silvestri said. “There was a lot left that we weren’t able to accomplish.”In terms of skill and ball handling, the teams seemed fairly even but the big difference was that Culver’s shooting percentage was incredibly high early on and Samo couldn’t keep up.“For a team like Culver that lives and dies by the three pointer, the points can pile up quickly,” Silvestri said.While Samo’s disheartenment was evident in the third quarter, there were a few players who persevered down to the last second—even though Samo was twelve points behind. Lily Auerbach (’19), a freshman who was moved up from JV over winter break, played as if Samo were down by one basket for the entirety of the game.“She is a lot stronger than a lot of other kids, which I don’t think she’s used to because she’s so young,” Silvestri said. “But I think she’s developing really quickly and doing a great job.”Auerbach has quickly become an invaluable member of the team as one of the highest scorers and rebounders.“It’s crazy…the last few weeks have been completely surreal,” Auerbach said. “Everyone has been so welcoming.”The game will serve, to many on the team, as a reality-check. Culver isn’t Samo’s biggest rival, but in terms of Ocean League, they are Samo’s toughest competition.“They’ve won the last five years,” Silvestri said. “I think we have the upper-hand athletically but we need to focus from the beginning if we’re going to be contenders.”