After more than a year of reestablishing a team identity due to a lack of seniors, the Aptos High girls basketball team is back to its winning ways.
The Mariners began the 2022-23 campaign by winning five of their first eight games.
“All of my juniors have become seniors and all of the juniors played a lot last year,” Aptos head coach Bruce Funk said. “I think all of my juniors have improved and both the freshmen are helping us, and that’s the difference.”
Aptos couldn’t overcome some of its tougher opponents—falling to Santa Clara, Leland and Christopher—yet, they have shown flashes of dominance including a 47-19 win over Pajaro Valley High.
The Mariners are coming off another excellent performance following a 50-17 blowout win over Palo Alto High in the opening round of the 10th Annual Aptos High/Santa Cruz Warriors Tournament on Wednesday.
Aptos was led by freshman Gabby Wickham with 15 points to go along with five steals. Senior forward Grace Townsend had her strongest game of the year contributing six points and seven rebounds.
The Mariners play Half Moon Bay High in the semifinals at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz on Thursday at 6:30pm.
During the 2022-23 season, the Mariners didn’t have enough players to properly practice for games, which hurt them when they needed to be familiar with their plays under pressure.
They finished with an 8-18 overall record and went 3-7 in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play last season.
Aptos is currently stacked with 12 girls on the roster including seven seniors who have the experience to understand what it takes to win at the varsity level. Consistent practice has been the key to unlocking the players’ potential.
“It really makes a big difference,” senior team captain Laurel Southall said. “It helps strengthen us as a team, work through our zone and man plays, and having 12 girls with subs really helps us a lot.”
Last season, Southall was the lone junior to earn All-SCCAL First Team honors, averaging nearly 10 points and 4 rebounds per game in 2022-23.
As a valuable contributor on the varsity team since her freshman year, Southall has acted as the team leader to corral the Mariners back into relevancy following an uncharacteristic losing season.
For Aptos, this all begins with communication on both sides of the ball.
“I feel like we’ve focused a lot more on defense this year and locking in,” Southall said.
In the final seconds of a narrow 39-36 victory against North Monterey County, Southall fell under an opposing player and dislocated her right shoulder.
Southall is expected to return in Aptos’ next game after missing two weeks for rehab, and she’s slated to give Aptos the offensive spacing it has relied on as a knockdown shooter.
Despite her injury, the Mariners’ leader continues to watch her teammates come into form as she sits on the sideline.
“I’m excited because our team has grown so much since last year and we’re able to play a cohesive basketball game,” senior guard Guin Lines said. “With Laurel coming back, what I hope is that all of us fully gel together.”
Lines earned all-league second team honors last season after averaging 9 points and 1.9 steals per game.
The biggest surprise for Aptos this season has been Wickham who has filled Southall’s shoes during her injury, and currently leads the team with 14.7 points per game.
“[Wickham] handles the ball really well, understands the game, and plays at a high level,” Funk said. “Defensively we’re much better, we are running and rebounding much better. I think we’ve handled the press a lot better than last year, and that’s mainly because of experience.”
Aptos currently owns a 5-3 overall record in the preseason portion of its schedule, sitting just behind Harbor (6-4) and Santa Cruz (6-4) high schools.
Once again with championship aspirations, the Mariners see Santa Cruz as their primary obstacle for hoisting the SCCAL crown for the first time since the team’s three-peat concluded in 2020.
“Winning is fun, but they went through a really difficult year last year and they’ve now come up on the other side,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great year from us.”
There’s plenty to look forward to in Aptos especially with Southall returning to play, a talented group of freshmen preparing for the future and sitting near the top of the standings with league play coming up.
“I just want to bring the team closer together,” said Southall. “I’d love to make CCS this year. It’s just setting up for the next few years, the future, that’s what is really important to me.”
Aptos begins SCCAL play at Scotts Valley on Jan. 2 at 6pm.
