Quick Take
Boys and girls basketball tournaments start Tuesday in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, with Santa Cruz High and Aptos High the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, in both. In the Pacific Coast Athletic League, basketball season heads into its final week, and girls and boys soccer season is also winding up in both the SCCAL and PCAL.
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The Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League has wrapped up its basketball regular season, and Santa Cruz High School will enter the league tournament with the top seed in both boys and girls play.
The league tournament begins Tuesday. In boys action, No. 6 Harbor High School will play at No. 3 Soquel High School and No. 5 San Lorenzo Valley High School will play at No. 4 Scotts Valley High School. No. 1 Santa Cruz High School and No. 2 Aptos High School each earned a first-round bye and will play the winners from the first round Thursday at Scotts Valley High School. The boys final will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cabrillo College.
On the girls side, No. 6 Harbor will play at No. 3 Scotts Valley and No. 5 Soquel will play at No. 4 San Lorenzo Valley in the first round Tuesday. No. 1 Santa Cruz and No. 2 Aptos will await the winners Thursday at Scotts Valley High. The girls final is slated for 5 p.m. Saturday at Cabrillo College.
Boys basketball
Santa Cruz High School lost its only league game of the season Tuesday in a 46-45 battle against Aptos High. The Cardinals trailed by 10 heading into the fourth before roaring back to just fall by a single point.
The Mariners were led in scoring by junior Isaiah Ackerman, who had 13 points. Seniors Lawrence Ingram IV and Mateo Calfee each chipped in 12 points.
Seniors Ben Dotten and Demeke Smith led the Cardinals in scoring, with 14 and 10 points, respectively, while junior Kirby Seals had 12 rebounds to go with 9 points.
Soquel High School finished in third with a 6-5 league record after topping Harbor High School 65-54 and Scotts Valley 64-52. Against Scotts Valley, juniors D’Rell Hopkins, Tyler Harway, Nico Ramirez and Tanner Trowbridge all had either 12 or 13 points. Scotts Valley was led by senior Chase Welle, who had 22 points.
The Pacific Coast Athletic League still has another week in its regular season, and Monte Vista Christian School is second in the Cypress Division with a 9-2 record. The Mustangs defeated King City High School and Gonzales High School last week but also fell to North Salinas High School 63-61.
Against Gonzales, senior Bryce Brogan paced Monte Vista Christian with 23 points. Fellow seniors Jack Ryan and Ethan Quizon added 16 and 14 points, respectively. Brogan and Ryan also paced the Mustangs in scoring in the win over King City.
Rancho San Juan High School sits ahead of the Mustangs by one game in the standings, and the two schools will square off for the final time this season on Tuesday.
Girls basketball
St. Francis High School leads the PCAL Cypress by two games with three games to play. Last week, the Sharks topped Pajaro Valley High School 49-23 and King City High School 69-31.
In the victory over Pajaro Valley, senior Aaliysah Gomez led the team with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 9 steals. Right behind her was freshman Maya Calfee, who had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 6 steals.
The two were again the leaders against King City. This time it was Calfee leading the way as she went for 37 points while also contributing 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 7 steals. Gomez again had 9 steals while adding 14 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. Senior Emily Raich also had a great game defensively, recording 5 steals.
In the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, Santa Cruz High School wrapped up the league season with a 10-0 record after topping San Lorenzo Valley High School 71-45 and Aptos High School 47-39.
The game against Aptos was a matchup of the league’s top teams, and the game was within five points heading to the fourth quarter before the Cardinals put it away. Sophomore Karolina Espinosa was dominant as a scorer, picking up 21 points while making eight free throws. Senior Natalia Espinosa had 10 points and made a pair of 3-point baskets.
The Mariners were led by Gabby Wickham, who had 12 points and 8 rebounds. Senior Laurel Southall had 9 points and 6 rebounds. Sophomore Abby Sherwood had 6 points and 8 boards.
Boys soccer
Pajaro Valley High School sits in third place in the PCAL Mission with two games to play after falling to Monterey High School and tying Soledad High School last week. In the draw against Soledad, senior Giovanni Bedolla and junior Kristof Garcia scored for the Grizzlies.
St. Francis High School leads the PCAL Santa Lucia with an undefeated 8-0-1 record; last week, the Sharks beat Oakwood School 6-0 and Marina High School 2-0. Against Oakwood, senior Thiago Caetano had a hat trick, and fellow class of 2024 soccer player Elias Garcia had two goals. Sophomore Liam Rawson also added a goal.
Two days later in the win over Marina, Caetano and Rawson again scored, accounting for one goal each.
Harbor High School narrowly leads Aptos High School in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League. The Pirates took down Scotts Valley High School 5-0 on Wednesday and San Lorenzo Valley High School 5-1 on Friday. In the win over Scotts Valley, Romeo Marin had three goals and senior Maury Martinez found the back of the net twice.
Aptos will face Harbor on the road Friday with four games remaining in the SCCAL slate.
Girls soccer
Monte Vista Christian School and Pajaro Valley High School are at the top of the PCAL Mission with 13 combined wins this season. The two schools will close out the season against each other on Friday.
This week the Mustangs defeated Soledad High School 3-2 and North Salinas 3-1. Against Soledad, sophomore Ashley Drago had two goals while junior Riley Retter added another score. Drago scored again in the game against North Salinas, as did sophomores Lauren Kelly and Kanaya Falce.
Pajaro Valley had a pair of 1-1 ties last week, against Pacific Collegiate School and Soledad. Elia Mas had the goal for Pacific Collegiate.
Aptos has clinched the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League with two games remaining and a perfect 8-0 record. Last week, the Mariners pitched two shutouts over San Lorenzo Valley High School and Soquel High School.
In the 5-0 victory over San Lorenzo Valley, senior Ella Shoemaker, sophomore Alexa Castaneda and freshmen Isabella Hartnett, Aubrie Ford and Scarlett Stateler all scored one goal.
The Mariners topped Soquel 4-0 as Shoemaker, Hartnett, Stateler and junior Anahi Macias all scored.
Alumni
Aptos High School alum Natalia Ackerman is having a great basketball season for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The senior is averaging 11.8 points per game, and exploded for 29 against California State Bakersfield on Jan. 20. The Mustangs are 11-10 with a big month ahead of them.
This week in history
On Jan. 28, 2013, St. Francis High School senior Lauren Price had the second-highest-scoring performance in the county according to records kept by MBayPreps.com. Price made 14 of her 19 shots for 44 points in a 61-59 victory over Scotts Valley High School, and also added 14 rebounds.
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