Aptos senior Ryan Solorio scored eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Mariners rally past Santa Cruz, 43-41, in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Tournament championship at Cabrillo College on Feb. 15.
“We’ve gone through so many years playing them, having to be the underdogs,” he said. “Feels absolutely amazing to be on top, finally.”
It was the first time in five years Aptos swept Santa Cruz twice during the regular season, followed by a victory in the tourney title game.
The SCCAL champion Mariners improved to a 22-4 overall record and went unbeaten in league play with a perfect 10-0 record.
“It’s always a difficult time to beat a team three times, but we had to come in it together,” said Solorio, who showed off the SCCAL Tourney Champions banner to the large crowd of Mariners fans in attendance Saturday evening. “Practicing the whole week we knew it was gonna be a dog fight. We play in dog fights like this all the damn time.”
Teammate senior Isaiah Ackerman recorded a double-double with a team-best 14 points and 11 rebounds, while teammate Nick Tovani finished with nine points, seven assists and four steals.
“We’re changing the culture this year,” Solorio said. “We’ve always been underdogs, like I said. For us to come out on top and play with that chip on our shoulder like they are coming for us, that was definitely the big one this year. Just a completely different change in attitude, and mentality.”
Santa Cruz junior Demarco Hunter finished with a game-best 15 points, while teammates Keyondre Randolph and Kaden Mirtz each had six points.
“These teams know each other so well, it’s so hard to get any good shots,” Aptos head coach Brian Bowyer said. “Ryan got hot at the right time for us and we ran a couple of plays for him. And every time we did he knocked the shot down. He just had an unbelievable game.”
Solorio drained a pair of shots from 3-point range and hit a jumper from the baseline to cut the deficit at 38-36 with 4:39 remaining in the game. Shortly after, he drew an offensive foul that gave the Mariners even more momentum.
“Coaches never really tell us much, they just say go play your game and we gotta come out on top,” Solorio said. “You gotta keep putting [shots] up and they’ll go in eventually.”
At first, the shots were not falling in for Aptos. Santa Cruz stunned the Mariners by taking an 11-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Cardinals went ahead by as many as nine points, 34-25, late in the third quarter. They also did a great job of containing Ackerman to just six points in the second half.
“I expected it but we have such great players,” Ackerman said. “Nick’s knocking down shots, Ryan’s hitting huge shots. Owen [Warmerdam is] doing everything, and everyone just stepped up tonight, big time.”
Caden Bogle stopped the bleeding for Aptos in the third stanza after knocking in his lone 3-pointer of the evening. Solorio continued the barrage with a pair of long range shots to start the fourth, and Tovani gave the Mariners their first lead of the game, 39-38, with his bucket from downtown.
“I think we just got hot at the right time,” Bowyer said. “That game goes another quarter, maybe they get hot. You just never know.”
Santa Cruz did make a small push at the end. Hunter completed a three-point play after getting fouled on a layup attempt that cut the deficit at 43-41 with less than one minute remaining in the contest.
The Cardinals standout had a chance to send the game into overtime but Hunter’s game-tying layup shot bounced off the side of the rim.
Next up, Aptos awaits for the Central Coast Section selection committee to hold its postseason seeding meeting on Wednesday at noon. The Mariners will most likely receive one of the higher seeds and host a game in the Division III bracket.
“Get a ring, that’s our goal,” Solorio said. “We have a lot of guys who have been here, in the program, for years playing at a younger age. It’s time we do our thing, 2025 Class.”
Watsonville shares Mission Division title with NMC
Watsonville had its chance last week to take sole possession of first place in the Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division.
Instead, the Wildcatz now have to share the league crown with North Monterey County following a 62-51 loss in the teams’ regular season finale Feb. 14.
The co-champions finished with a 12-2 record in league play, but the Condors (17-7) are the No. 1 seed in the Mission division after defeating Watsonville (16-4) twice during the regular season.
Monte Vista Christian (8-15) took its share of lumps in the Mission Division, placing seventh with a 2-12 record in league play this season.
Leading the way for the Mustangs was senior Nico Downie and sophomore Matteo Vidal, who each had an average of 13 points per game this season, according to statistics on the Monterey Bay Preps website.
Teammate senior Brandon Dobler was also a key contributor with an average of 8.9 points per game for the Mustangs.
St. Francis caps off perfect season in Cypress Division
After just one year removed from winning a PCAL Mission Division title, St. Francis climbed back atop of the mountain after going 12-0 in the Cypress Division.
Senior Nash Horton had a team-best 19 points to help the Sharks cap off the perfect season in league play following a 68-31 victory over Pacific Collegiate on Feb. 13.
Teammate senior Jesse Navarro added nine points, while seniors Mario Zermeno and Marcus Gonzalez each contributed eight. Senior Mason Borrego and sophomore Isaiah Viallalobos each had seven points for the Sharks.
Horton has an average of 20.1 points per game this season, according to statistics on the Monterey Bay Preps website. Others with double-digit scoring averages include juniors Robert Gomez Jr. with 15.9 and Jacob Jimenez (11.2), and Viallobos (10.3).
Pajaro Valley takes second in Santa Lucia Division
Throughout most of the season, Pajaro Valley (10-9, 9-2) kept pace with York School (13-6, 11-1) in what was a two-way race for the PCAL Santa Lucia Division crown.
York defeated Pajaro Valley, 70-65, in the teams’ second meeting Jan. 31 en route to the league title.
Leading the way for the Grizzlies were seniors Carlos Escobar and Anthony Aguirre, who finished with averages of 20.4 and 13.8 points per contest, respectively, this season.
