High school sports roundup: A Santa Cruz-Aptos hoops duel; soccer league play in full swing

Editor’s note: Welcome to Lookout’s high school sports coverage. We’ll send you an email each week as it is published each Monday — just sign up here. Thomas Frey, an alum of Cabrillo College who has covered high school sports locally, leads our coverage, his column appearing weekly and his athlete of the month feature mid-month. We welcome your tips and stories — email thomas@lookoutlocal.com and news@lookoutlocal.com (with high school sports in the subject line).

First place was on the line in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League as Santa Cruz High School topped Aptos High School 75-72 in overtime on Friday night.

The Mariners trailed by six heading into the fourth quarter, but tied the game up to send it to an extra frame. Santa Cruz hit free throws to go up 75-72 and with one final chance, Aptos launched a 3-pointer that hit the backboard, went off the front of the rim and fell to the court as the buzzer sounded. 

Senior Ben Dotten was dominant all night for Santa Cruz, scoring 29 points while making 11 of his 18 shots. He was also one of three Cardinals to pull down at least 10 rebounds, joining junior Kirby Seals and sophomore Demarco Hunter.

Boys basketball

Santa Cruz High School is 4-0 in league play after topping Aptos on Friday and Scott Valley High School on Tuesday by a score of 75-41. Ten different Cardinals players scored in the contest as Dotten and Hunter led the way with 27 combined points. 

Aptos went into the game against Santa Cruz with a 2-1 league record after topping Soquel High School 61-42 on Tuesday. Senior Mateo Calfee had 17 points to lead the Mariners, while classmate Johnny Cornejo had 12 points. Junior Isaiah Ackerman had 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

Monte Vista Christian School is tied with Rancho San Juan High School at 4-0 for the top spot in the Pacific Coast Athletic League Cypress Division. The two schools will battle Wednesday in Watsonville. 

Last week, the Mustangs topped Gonzales High School 71-62 on Wednesday and North Salinas High School 60-45 on Friday. In the Gonzales win, both junior Nico Downie and senior Bryce Brogan had 21 points while fellow senior Jack Ryan added 15. Against North Salinas, it was again the Bryce Brogan show as the senior knocked down seven 3-pointers on his way to 28 points. 

Girls basketball

St. Francis High School is off to an electrifying 4-0 start in the PCAL Cypress after victories over King City High School and Pacific Collegiate School in the past week. In the 50-28 win over King City, senior Aaliysah Gomez had 17 points while freshman Maya Calfee and senior Emily Raich each chipped in double-digit scoring nights. Gomez also pulled down a team-high 8 rebounds with 6 steals. Sophomore Peyton Orradre also had a big defensive game, recording 4 steals.

On Friday against Pacific Collegiate, Raich again came up big, scoring 18 points. Calfee also had 10 points and distributed the ball well, passing for 7 assists. Defensively, Calfee had 5 steals. Senior Nevaeh Litel also had 5 steals to go with 10 points. 

Santa Cruz High School roared out to a lead in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League with a 4-0 league record after topping Aptos High School 68-35 in a first-place showdown Friday.

Earlier in the week on Tuesday, the Cardinals beat Scotts Valley High School 58-28. Sophomore Karolina Espinosa and seniors Bianca Anaya and Lily Conn all had double-digit scoring performances. Anaya led the team with three 3-pointers. 

Aptos is 3-1 in SCCAL play after topping Soquel High School 47-34 on Tuesday. Freshman Gabby Wickham led the Mariners with 20 points while junior Berkeley Ashby pulled down 14 rebounds. 

Boys soccer

Harbor High School and Santa Cruz High School both won their Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League openers last week. 

Harbor won by an impressive 5-0 over Scotts Valley High School; Santa Cruz topped Soquel High School 2-0.

Pajaro Valley High School is 2-1-1 in the PCAL Mission after winning both of its games last week. In a 2-0 shutout against Monterey High School on Wednesday, the Grizzlies got first-half goals from Jesus Alvarado and Jesus Maravilla-Ortiz. 

On Friday, Pajaro Valley closed out a 2-1 win over Soledad High School.

St. Francis High School improved its PCAL Santa Lucia record to 2-0 after topping Marina High School 3-1 on Thursday. Sophomore Liam Rawson had two goals and senior Elias Garcia also found the back of the net.

Girls soccer

Aptos High School and Soquel High School have each leapt out to 2-0 starts in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League. 

In Aptos’ 2-0 win over Scotts Valley High School on Tuesday, Alexa Castaneda and Isabella Doolittle each scored a goal. On Thursday’s 3-0 win over San Lorenzo Valley High School, Castaneda scored twice while senior Ella Shoemaker added a tally of her own.

Soquel defeated San Lorenzo Valley High 3-1 on Tuesday as senior Julia Inkles had two goals and junior Trinity Wilson had a goal. In the 2-0 victory over Santa Cruz High on Thursday, Inkles again found the stat sheet, scoring two goals. Wilson had an assist. Aptos and Soquel will meet Tuesday.

Scotts Valley is 1-1 in league play after defeating Harbor High School 3-0 on Thursday as a pair of underclassmen dominated for the Falcons. Freshman Taylor Ericson had two goals and sophomore Ella Ireland also scored. 

Monte Vista Christian School is at the top of the PCAL Mission at 3-0 while Pajaro Valley High School is right behind at 2-1-1. The two teams are scheduled to meet Jan. 22 on Monday, then again in the regular-season finale Feb. 9.

In a 3-1 win over Soledad High School on Wednesday, Monte Vista Christian senior Julia Reiland led the way with two goals. Sophomore Lauren Kelley added to the scoring with a goal of her own.

Pajaro Valley trailed Pacific Collegiate School 1-0 on Wednesday before junior Valeria Acosta sent a shot into goal to send the Grizzlies home with a tie. 

Alumni

Aptos High School alum Cameron Saldana is averaging 11 points per game for Gavilan College in Gilroy. He graduated from Aptos in 2022 and has scored in double figures nine times this season. His season high of 23 points came against Ohlone College on Nov. 17.

This week in history

On Jan. 7, 2015, Javier Alfaro of the Santa Cruz High School boys soccer team turned in one of the best performances the Central Coast Section has ever seen. The senior scored seven goals while also dishing out four assists in a 13-0 victory over St. Francis. Alfaro went on to play Division I college soccer at California State Fullerton.

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