Pajaro Valley junior guard Juanito Montiel finished with a team-best 16 points but it wasn’t enough as the Grizzlies boys’ basketball team fell to Kirby School, 49-44, in a battle for first place of the Pacific Coast Athletic League Santa Lucia Division on Wednesday night.
Teammate junior forward Fidel Rocha added eight points, while sophomore forward Alan Cervantes and junior guard Adrian Valdez each contributed six points.
“It was a fought battle between both teams,” PV head coach Eddie Marin said. “I think they both played well but the better team won at the end. We made some crucial mistakes towards the end, and it kind of cost us.”
Chris Lively had 18 points, while teammate Alon Teragawa added 14 to help Kirby improve to 8-1 in the Santa Lucia Division standings.
PV dropped to 7-2 following Wednesday’s loss, and it didn’t help in terms of chasing the Santa Lucia Division crown. Yet, they are still far from out of it.
But, they’ll need a little bit of outside help from York (9-4, 6-2), which needs to defeat Kirby (11-8, 8-1) on Friday in order to stay in the hunt.
The Grizzlies were coming off a 69-20 victory over Ceiba in league play Monday evening.
Cervantes had 19 points, while teammate sophomore Jonathan Aguirre contributed 10 points and Valdez added eight points.
PV’s main offense is typically running a half court set but that was nowhere to be found on Wednesday night.
Instead, they relied on forcing turnovers and scoring off the fast break. They also got into foul trouble early in the contest.
“The trust wasn’t there between the teammates,” Marin said. “We missed a lot of free throws towards the end. I think we had a couple chances to overcome that, but we just didn’t come out on top.”
After starting the 2025-26 winter campaign with 10 straight losses, this young pack of Grizzlies continuously played with a never-quit attitude.
“These are good lessons for them,” Marin said.
PV’s skipper mentioned they’re notorious for having slow starts during the non-league portion of the schedule, especially going up against some of the more challenging schools outside of the PCAL.
However, Marin said having everybody buy into what he’s been trying to sell the past four years helps tremendously as the program flourishes under his wings.
For example, Marin brought on board his former player Alex Acosta, who is now serving as an assistant coach on varsity and is leading a talented freshman group.
“The culture of being a tight group and just being there as a family throughout the offseason definitely has helped out a little bit at PV,” Marin said.
On Thursday, the Grizzlies bounced back with a 46-24 victory against Monterey Bay Academy to stay, and improved to 8-2 in league play to stay within reach of Kirby in the race for the PCAL Santa Lucia Division crown. Cervantes finished with 11 points, while Montiel added 10 points.
Pajaro Valley (9-12, 8-2) caps off the season at Trinity Christian on Feb. 10, followed by the season-finale for Senior Night at home against York School on Feb. 12. Tipoff is slated at 7pm for both games.
“This group has ups and downs throughout the games, but I told them if we can play consistent basketball for four quarters we can win every game throughout league [play],” Marin said. “Regardless of the outcome, I know that they’ve worked hard all season and I do appreciate that.”
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