Sports

The Mariners came tantalizingly close to the Monterey Bay League Gabilan division championship on Friday night but the Cowboys were cleaner and more focused when it mattered most, doing just enough to edge Aptos, 31-21, for the program’s first league title since 2014.

Quinn Cook poured in 30 points, grabbed five rebounds and made five assists and six other Warriors scored at least 15 points in Santa Cruz's 131-98 season-opening victory over the Agua Caliente Clippers at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif. on Friday night.

Sophomore Mia Totah rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win over St. Francis High junior Gabi Gutierrez to claim the singles title for the second consecutive year, while twin sisters Lila and Rebecca Sampson, also sophomores, matched her output en route to a repeat title in the doubles, topping St. Francis’ duo of Katherine Casper and Maya Talavera, 6-0, 6-0.

The Mustangs junior outside hitter had to sit out the entirety to last year’s post season because of an injury to her right eye which required surgery to repair.

The game is without a doubt a battle of heavyweight teams. Aptos (6-2, 5-0) enters on a five-game winning streak, while Salinas (7-2, 6-0) has won six straight. Both teams’ win streaks have come against league opponents.

The girls captured their sixth straight title and 13th over the last 15 years in a miraculous one-point upset of Santa Cruz High, while the boys finished off their dominant league season with a commanding 47-point victory to repeat as league champs.