Watsonville freshman Isabella Alvarez was crowned the Most Valuable Player at this past weekend’s Watsonville Girls Basketball Tournament.
She averaged 15 points and seven steals per game in three games for the Wildcatz who beat Christopher, DCP El Primero and Sobrato for the 3-0 sweep.
Alvarez had seven points and three steals in a 41-33 win against Christopher in the teams’ tournament finale Dec. 7. Fellow teammate junior Stephanie Martinez had eight points and nine rebounds, while junior Leilani Yasin contributed eight points.
Christopher’s Kaycee Carasco, who earned all-tournament honors, had a team-best 16 points.
The rest of the All-Watsonville Tournament Team included Ann Sobrato’s Cameron Isle who scored eight points per game, Salinas’ Alice Uchida (11 PPG), Hollister’s Jada Gonzales (12 PPG) and Alvarez.
Alvarez got things started in the Catz’s 53-35 win over Sobrato on Dec. 4. She set a school record with six 3-pointers, finishing with 18 points to go along with six steals and three assists.
Fellow teammate Brianna Leon had eight points, eight steals and eight assists, while Martinez added eight points and 10 steals.
The following day, Alvarez had 20 points and set a school record with 12 steals in Watsonville’s 65-13 win against DCP El Primero. She surpassed the previous single game record of 11 steals set by Xitlali Montesino.
Martinez had 11 points and four steals, while Yasin contributed six points and seven rebounds. Leon finished with seven points, eight assists and seven steals for the ‘Catz (5-1), who will host Rancho San Juan on Tuesday at 7pm.
Aptos 50, Carmel 35: Forward Abby Sherwood continued her dominant post play with a team-best 15 points and seven rebounds for the Mariners in their win over the Padres at the Jacob’s Heart Pediatric Cancer Shootout on Dec. 7.
The Mariners came out with a suffocating defense, holding Carmel to 11 first half points. Senior guard Berkeley Ashby had six steals to go along with 11 points for Aptos, which improved to a 5-1 overall record this season.
Emi Gansaver-Piltcher had six points and a pair of assists, while teammate Eliya Chavez contributed eight points for the Mariners, who host Pajaro Valley on Wednesday at 7pm.
At Aptos 48, Gilroy 37: Senior guard Berkeley Ashby scored a game-best 17 points for the Mariners in their non-league win over the Mustangs on Dec. 6.
Aptos came out strong in the second half behind the quality play of Ashby, who knocked down three 3-pointers to go along with nine rebounds and four assists.
Teammate Abby Sherwood fouled out of the game early in the fourth quarter. Sophomore guard Eliya Chavez stepped up by having her best game this season, contributing 12 points and three steals for the Mariners.
Aptos struggled in the first half with Gilroy’s post presence and was consistently in foul trouble.
However, the Mariners outscored the Mustangs by 14 points in the second half with solid contributions from sophomores Samantha Townsend and Emi Gansaver-Piltcher, who each finished with six points.
At Aptos 38, North Salinas 21
Senior guard Berkeley Ashby had 12 points and five steals for the Mariners in their non-league win over the Vikings on Tuesday night.
Teammate junior Abby Sherwood was constantly putting pressure on the Vikings’ defense with her strong drive to the basket, drawing three shooting fouls. She had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Mariners, who held North Salinas to four first half points and tallied five blocks.
Boys soccer
Monterey 1, Aptos 0: The Mariners came up short against the Toreadores in the third and final game of the Watsonville Tournament on Dec. 7.
Monterey scored in the 39th minute off a corner kick just before going into halftime.
“I’m very proud of how our Aptos boys continued their attack, putting together many combination plays to rally to find the equalizer,” Aptos coach Roberto Zuñiga said in a text message. “We had a great game against good competition and that will help us get stronger as the season progresses.”
Aptos (3-1) hosts North Salinas on Wednesday at 7pm.
Aptos 3, Punahou (Hawaii) 2: Josiah Siqueiros scored the go-ahead goal for the Mariners in their non-league win against the Buff n’ Blue in the teams’ second game of the Watsonville Tournament on Dec. 6.
Siqueiros also recorded one assist, while fellow teammate Nami Banks had one goal and one assist. Nicolas Topete notched Aptos’ first goal of the game in the 13th minute that tied the score at 1-all.
“Both teams fought hard defensively and offensively until the final whistle blew,” Aptos head coach Roberto Zuñiga said in a text message. “Commendable effort to our defense and offense on creating many goal scoring opportunities.”
Aptos 2, Pajaro Valley 0: Josiah Siqueiros and River Cook each scored one goal for the Mariners in their win over the Grizzlies in the first game of the Watsonville Tournament on Dec. 4.
Aptos head coach Roberto Zuñiga said they played a solid defensive game that was led by Haziel Parra, Love Granstrom, Daniel Lozano and Alex Casillas.
“We had good control of the game and created many scoring opportunities,” Zuñiga said.
Alex Casillas and Noah Salik were each credited with one assist for Aptos.
Girls soccer
Aptos 3, Watsonville 0: Scarlet Stateler had two goals for the Mariners in their non-league win over the Wildcatz on Dec. 5.
Teammate Anahi Macias scored off an amazing header following a counter kick from Stateler in the 18th minute.
Isabella Hartnett and Alexa Castañeda each were credited with an assist, while goalkeeper Evelyn Pini had two saves for Aptos (1-0), which plays at Gilroy on Tuesday at 6pm.
