Quick Take
The Santa Cruz High boys and girls basketball teams both entered this week with 8-0 records in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, while in girls soccer, Pajaro Valley High is atop the Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division and Aptos High leads the SCCAL.
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).
The St. Francis High School girls basketball team moved to 8-0 in the Pacific Coast Athletic League Cypress Division after wins over Marina High School and Notre Dame High School. Against Marina on Tuesday, the Sharks pulled out a 53-44 win after leading by five heading into the fourth quarter.
Freshman Maya Calfee paced St. Francis with 14 points while senior Emily Raich had 13. Seniors Aaliysah Gomez and Nevaeh Litel each chipped in 11. Gomez also contributed 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
Two days later, the Sharks held Notre Dame to seven points per quarter in the 39-28 win. Not only did Gomez lead the Sharks with 13 points and 17 rebounds, but also with 5 assists and 5 steals. Calfee also contributed 9 points and 11 boards.
Boys basketball
Monte Vista Christian School keeps on chugging ahead in the PCAL Cypress and now sits with a 7-1 league record. The Mustangs took down Greenfield High School in a close one 57-49 on Tuesday and Pajaro Valley High School 73-38 on Thursday.
Junior Nico Downie led Monte Vista Christian in scoring on both nights, hitting 20 against Greenfield and 14 against Pajaro Valley. Senior Jack Ryan was key in both games, pulling down a combined 27 rebounds while scoring 19 points over the two contests.
Santa Cruz High School is a perfect 8-0 in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League after topping Soquel High School 67-40 on Tuesday and Scotts Valley High School 76-63 on Friday. In the victory over Soquel, sophomore Demarco Hunter made 9 of 13 shots for 22 points, and blocked 4 shots on the opposite end. Senior Demeke Smith had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out 4 assists.
Aptos High School is second in the SCCAL with a 6-2 record. The Mariners defeated San Lorenzo Valley High School 67-33 on Tuesday and Soquel 65-41 on Friday.
Girls basketball
Santa Cruz High School is No. 1 in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League at 8-0 after beating Soquel High School 62-23 and Scotts Valley High School 37-30 last week. Against Soquel, junior Tiera O’Connor had 14 points on offense and 5 steals on defense. Sophomore Karolina Espinosa also stepped up big for the Cardinals, recording 6 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Senior Amelie Stotland led the Knights with 10 points.
Aptos High School stands in second place after wins last week over San Lorenzo Valley High School and Soquel. In the 60-34 victory over San Lorenzo Valley, sophomore Abby Sherwood led the Mariners with 19 points while freshman Gabby Wickham had 12 points. Freshman Eliya Sanchez was huge on the boards, pulling down 8 rebounds. On defense, Wickham and junior Berkeley Ashby each had 4 steals.
Watsonville High School improved to 4-4 in the PCAL Gabilan Division after striking for two wins last week, over Pacific Grove High School and North Salinas High School. In the 32-31 victory over Pacific Grove on Tuesday, junior Fernanda Lazo had 12 points and 11 rebounds in a double-double performance. Sophomore Stephanie Martinez also came up big on the glass by snagging 10 boards.
Boys soccer
Watsonville High School is right in the middle of the PCAL Gabilan after going 1-1 last week. Overall, the Wildcatz are 3-3-1 in the division after defeating Greenfield High School 2-1 on Tuesday before falling 4-0 against North Salinas High School on Thursday. Senior Cristian Flores and junior Tialoc Ledesman-Pena each scored against Greenfield on Tuesday.
Pajaro Valley High School is second in the PCAL Mission after beating Rancho San Juan High School 2-0 on Wednesday. Senior Gael Oviedo Virgen came up with both scoring strikes for the Grizzlies.
St. Francis remains undefeated at 6-0-1 in the PCAL Santa Lucia. The Sharks took down Trinity Christian 9-0 on Wednesday. Senior Elias Garcia had four goals while senior Thiago Caetano and sophomore Liam Rawson each parked two shots into the back of the net. Senior Aidan Berrelleza-Hernandez also scored a goal and had two assists.
In a battle for first place in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, Aptos High School topped Harbor High School 2-0 on Wednesday. Senior Eddie Alvarez broke the scoreless tie at the end of the first half, and senior Ulises Hernandez scored at the beginning of the second half.
Girls soccer
Pajaro Valley High School leads the PCAL Mission with a 6-1-1 record. The Grizzlies took down Monte Vista Christian School 3-1 on Monday. Senior Maricza Rodriguez, junior Valeria Acosta and sophomore Daisy Garcia each scored for the Grizzlies. Freshman Janea Telles scored the goal for the Mustangs.
Acosta came up with a hat trick two days later in a 4-0 victory over North Salinas High School. Sophomore Scarlet Gomez assisted on two of those goals while also scoring a goal herself. Alondra Chavez and sophomore Rocio Acosta both assisted for Pajaro Valley.
Aptos has a perfect 6-0 record in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League and beat Harbor High School 4-0 on Tuesday and Scotts Valley High School 3-2 on Thursday. In the victory over Harbor, seniors Ella Shoemaker and Kaitlyn Murphy, sophomore Alexa Castaneda and freshman Isabella Hartnett each scored a goal. Castaneda also assisted on the Shoemaker and Hartnett goals.
In a battle for second place in the SCCAL, Scotts Valley took down Soquel High School 3-0 on Tuesday. The Falcons were led by three different goal-scorers in juniors Jordan Ericson and Skylar Dufour and freshman Taylor Ericson.
Alumni
Aptos High alum Blake Welle got back on the basketball court for Saint Mary of the Woods College in Indiana on Jan. 20. Welle played six minutes and pulled down 2 rebounds in his return to the court.
This week in history
On Jan. 22, 1989, Aptos High alum Sam Kennedy won Super Bowl XXIII with the San Francisco 49ers. Kennedy played in all 19 regular and postseason games and recovered two fumbles during the season as the 49ers won their third Super Bowl.
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