SANTA CRUZ—The Aptos and Santa Cruz boys’ basketball teams finished as Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League co-champions, splitting the regular season series at one game apiece.
On Thursday, they had one final chance to settle the score once and for all in the Central Coast Section Division III semifinals.
In the end, it was the No. 4 seeded Mariners who came out on top with a 50-47 victory against the No. 1 Cardinals to advance to championship, and own bragging rights for the rest of the year.
Aptos senior center Jack Spinelli said they were locked-in prior to tipoff and they weren’t going to let their previous meeting affect them. The Cardinals on Feb. 2 won, 51-38.
“We weren’t supposed to be here,” he said. “Santa Cruz is a top-dog, they’re supposed to be in these kinds of games. We’re just little Aptos but we proved the whole county we did it.”
Aptos (22-4) is on the cusp of winning a CCS championship for the first time since winning their first and only title during the 1985-86 season under former coach Bill Warmerdam. They edged San Mateo, 42-41, in the D-II championship and finished with a 32-2 overall record.
It’s been three years since the Mariners made the finals. They lost to Monterey in the D-III championships.
Aptos will get another shot at the title this Saturday against No. 2 Burlingame (20-5), the Peninsula Athletic League’s South Division champion. Tipoff is slated for 7pm.
“This is what we practice for,” said Aptos senior guard Caemeron Saldana. “This is what high school basketball is all about. We’re going to play our butts off and do what we can and hopefully we come out with rings.”
Without a doubt, Thursday night’s game lived up to the hype. Hundreds of fans packed the gym at Santa Cruz High to watch the teams’ final meeting this season.
And just as expected, it was low scoring, physical and it went back and forth similar to the chants from the raucous student sections.
Spinelli, who finished with a team-high 13 points, said they didn’t play their best game. Especially with all the turnovers and some missed free throws down the stretch.
“But it really didn’t matter, we just played our [butts] off and we played defense,” he said. “That was crazy. I don’t even know what to say.”
The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead and their defense was focused on Saldana from the get-go. He was held to eight points.
“They were doubling me, they were sending bodies at me. I had to find the open man and that’s what I did today,” he said.
Spinelli turned it around for Aptos after he got a big block on defense and came hustling back for the layup. Then it was back-to-back 3-pointers by Marcel Martin and Harrison Bloom, which gave the Mariners their first lead of the game, 13-10.
Spinelli capped off the scoring-run with a 3-pointer of his own that put the Mariners ahead by six points at the end of the first quarter.
Senior guard/forward Kosi Warren-House got Santa Cruz back in the game with a layup and a jump shot that pulled them to within a point, 17-16.
Aptos also got into early foul trouble starting with Saldana, who picked up his third personal foul roughly three minutes into the second quarter.
Santa Cruz was hoping that would allow them to get back in the game. Instead, sophomore guard Johnny Cornejo hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Aptos’ lead to 23-16.
“I knew I had to step in when coach called my name,” Cornejo said. “I knew I had to execute, I knew the situation.”
He was fouled on one of the 3-point attempts and he missed the free throw attempt, but Spinelli grabbed the initial rebound and found Cornejo on the left corner to drain in his second bucket from long range.
“We don’t win if he doesn’t come in and do what he does,” said Aptos coach Brian Bowyer. “Not only that, he relieves some of the ball pressure that Cam was getting.”
Cornejo, who finished with eight points, did make a couple of mistakes by turning the ball over twice including one at midcourt. The Mariners also missed four free throw attempts and left precious points on the board.
Still, they had a 23-19 lead going into halftime and momentum swaying in their favor.
The start to the second half didn’t go as planned for the Mariners. Spinelli picked up his third personal foul and the Cardinals came out with a much different attitude, playing like they realized what was at stake.
Warren-House got the home crowd back into it with a ferocious dunk and made a smooth jump shot that gave Santa Cruz back the lead, 24-23.
Aptos slowed things down after they called a timeout with 5:46 left in the third, giving them a chance to regroup.
It worked as Saldana gave them two quick buckets to recapture the lead.
“Before the game we talked and all we wanted to do was keep this thing close,” Bowyer said. “We wanted it to be a two point game coming down to the end because they can blow you out in here, where it doesn’t come down to the end.”
Santa Cruz senior guard/forward Aden Cury had been quiet most of the evening until he hit a shot in the third. He came storming back with another bucket to cut the deficit, 31-30, as they headed into the final stanza.
After both teams failed to score nearly three minutes into the fourth, Spinelli snapped the scoreless skid with a layup. Martin, who finished with 12 points, drained his second 3-pointer of the night and put Aptos ahead 36-30.
The foul trouble continued for Aptos after Spinelli picked up his fourth foul with 2:51 left in the game. He responded with an easy layup and Saldana followed with one of his own, giving Aptos a 40-35 lead.
Junior guard/forward Trevor Brady extended the lead by eight points after he knocked in a 3-pointer.
It almost seemed like the final blow for the Cardinals, yet, they were far from being done.
Saldana and Spinelli fouled out with less than a minute left, forcing two key starters to sit on the bench.
“I was just itching to be out there,” Spinelli said. “Me and Cameron were out and we’re the two-top guys. We just had faith in our teammates and they went out there and did the job. It was amazing.”
Cury almost made it a two-point game after getting fouled on the layup but he missed the free throw attempt. Shortly later, Warren-House drove in for a quick layup to cut the deficit to two, 46-44.
That’s as close as the Cardinals got as they watched their season come to an end after a pair of Mariners’ free throws put the game out of reach.
“In victory or defeat, I’m humble,” Saldana said. “Those Cardinals are a fantastic team, a phenomenal team. We did what was unexpected, everyone was doubting us coming into this game…we just proved everyone wrong.”
