Aptos this past weekend accomplished something that no other group in the program has been able to do since it began hosting the Aptos/Santa Cruz NorCal Invitational 11 years ago.
They captured the program’s first-ever tournament championship following a 52-47 win over Half Moon Bay at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz on Dec. 28.
And the Mariners won the title with gusto, starting with a win over Pioneer in the opener and victories over Central Coast Section perennial powerhouse teams Los Gatos—the defending Division I champion—and Half Moon Bay, which qualified for the Open Division playoffs.
Aptos senior forward Isaiah Ackerman had an average of 21.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in the three games played. He was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“Good environment being here at the Santa Cruz Warriors stadium, all the fans,” Ackerman said after a nail-biting 50-47 win in overtime against Los Gatos on Dec. 27. “It was a really competitive game. It’s always fun to have a competitive game…It’s awesome. I get to play on such a big court, which gets you tired but it’s really fun. I like being here.”
With the win, the Mariners improved to a 9-3 overall record and are playing some high quality basketball this 2024-25 winter season.
Aptos head coach Brian Bowyer was proud of how his players executed down the final stretch against Los Gatos. He said they attempted to run some stuff near the end and they responded by executing what the coaches asked of them.
“We ran our offense as well,” Bowyer said. “We didn’t always score, but we ran what we wanted to run at the end.”
The Mariners’ defense also played a big role in helping them get past Los Gatos in Friday night’s semifinals.
“It felt like a playoff game in general,” Bowyer said. “Both teams were physical. Both teams just played great, and the referees let it go. They let it go both ways. There’s no problem at all with that.”
Bowyer mentioned the Wildcats were the bigger team going in and the physicality could’ve played in their favor. And they were missing 6-foot-5 senior forward Scott Brennan, who suffered a concussion and broken wrist in the tournament opener against Soquel on Dec. 26.
“[My players] know what Los Gatos is,” Bowyer said. “They know how good they are, even without [Brennan] who got hurt yesterday, they’re a really good team.”
Aptos played Los Gatos in the CCS Sportsmanship Scrimmages on Nov. 21. The Wildcats handily defeated the Mariners—who were still missing a majority of their players—by 40 points.
Ackerman knew Los Gatos had a deep bench loaded with several great shooters and overall just good players. He said the plan was to stay with a half-court defense, attempt to shut them down while playing some transition basketball.
“Try and get out and run,” said Ackerman, who had 20 points and nine rebounds against Los Gatos.
Aptos finished with an 18-9 overall record this past season. They placed second in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League standings with an 8-2 record in league play.
It was good enough to earn them the No. 2 seed in the CCS D-III playoffs. However, the Mariners were stunned following a 47-43 loss to No. 7 Burlingame in the quarterfinals.
Aptos also lost six seniors in Adnan Ayyad, Mateo Calfee, Johnny Cornejo, Luke Garvey, Kai Grio and Lawrence Ingram IV to graduation.
Those making their return include Ackerman, Ryan Solorio, Owen Warmerdam and Nick Tovani, who has recently stepped in to play the point guard position.
Bowyer said his fast-moving guard uses his speed to penetrate the open lanes and drive to the basket.
“There were four or five of his penetrations that just hung on the rim,” Bowyer said. “He could have had 10 more points easily. He did everything. He played great tonight.”
Tovani had 16 points, five assists and three rebounds, while Warmerdam had nine points to go along with six rebounds and a team-best six blocks for Aptos.
Ackerman credits their success to sharing the ball and looking for the open shot instead of rushing it.
“Guys were hitting big 3s and just trying to work the ball around, not trying to play selfish one-on-one,” he said.
The Mariners star player also emphasized that defense wins championships. They held Half Moon Bay to 14 points in the second half, including just five points in the third quarter during Saturday night’s game.
“If we play solid defense, we could play with anybody. That’s all that matters,” Ackerman said.
On top of having a talented team on the court, what Ackerman loves the most about this group is that every day is a competition for them. He said each player understands their role and gives 100 percent of their effort whether it’s at practice or on game day.
“Everyone just has a lot of heart, and that’s what makes basketball, basketball,” Ackerman said.
Other huge non-league wins came against Sobrato, Salinas, Hollister, Alvarez and Carmel—the defending CCS D-IV champion.
Aptos has two more non-league games remaining in the preseason portion of its schedule, including a rematch at Carmel on Jan. 2 at 7pm. The preseason finale at Wilcox in Santa Clara is set for Jan. 8 at 7:30pm.
Ackerman said playing against all of these talented teams helps prepare them for the upcoming SCCAL season.
“All it’s gonna do is get you better,” he said. “And when you play in the league games, it’s gonna help you prepare for those games and get ready for those moments. I’m really excited for our league this year. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
The Mariners tip off SCCAL play at home against Scotts Valley on Jan. 14 at 7:30pm.
