Sports

Several local high school basketball boys and girls teams qualified for the upcoming Central Coast Section postseason which officially tips off this weekend. A handful of league champions will have some time off with byes in the first and second rounds, while others will begin...

After an impressive Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship run, Aptos earned the top seed in this year’s Central Coast Section Division II playoffs.  The Mariners (15-2-1)—winners of five straight—will host No. 8 Homestead (8-7-4) in the teams’ quarterfinals match on Saturday at 11am.  “The girls,...

The hot streakin’ Aptos boys’ soccer team clinched its second consecutive Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League crown following a 3-0 win over Soquel on Wednesday night.  Senior Nami Banks had one goal and one assist for the Mariners, who closed out the regular season with...

The magical season for St. Francis’ girls’ soccer team came to an end following a 5-1 loss to North Monterey County in the Central Coast Section play-in game Tuesday afternoon.  Andrea Ibarra, Anahi Flores, Isa Valadez, Herendira Navoa and Bella Hernandez each scored once for...

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...

St. Francis junior Miriam Abonce pointed out that anytime someone steps into their gymnasium to check out all of the league title banners, none of them say girls soccer. That all changed this year following a Pacific Coast Athletic League title run that saw the...

In just his first year at the helm, Aptos boys’ wrestling head coach Johnny Velez was already experiencing what some would consider a Hollywood scripted season. The Mariners were sitting in a three-way tie with Santa Cruz and Soquel for the Santa Cruz Coast League...

St. Francis senior Nash Horton has been serving up double-doubles on the basketball court this 2024-25 winter campaign like he was part owner of an In-N-Out franchise. The standout guard recorded his 14th double-double this season with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the Sharks’...

The path to a league championship just became a lot smoother for Pajaro Valley’s girls’ soccer team following a 3-1 win over Alisal in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division action Monday afternoon. Juniors Rocio Acosta and Arianna Ornales-Flores each had one goal, while senior...

As the professionals participated in this past weekend’s NFL Pro Bowl Games in Orlando, a collection of the best local prep football players got together for one last time on the gridiron Feb. 1.  St. Francis senior Javier Fonseca Jr. tossed a pair of touchdown...