Santa Cruz wins SCCAL Tournament to earn Basketball Championship Outright
By Michael Oppenheimer
Aptos High’s boys varsity basketball team had a fight from the opening gun of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s basketball championship game against Santa Cruz High School.
In a back-and-forth game that the Mariners’ rallied over and over, forcing the game into overtime, free throws finally got the better of them as the Cardinals completed the promise of their regular season, winning the SCCAL title outright with a 72-69 victory.
After 32 minutes of clawing and scraping, of stumbling and rallying, Aptos faltered at the free-throw line in overtime. Both teams took nine free throws: Santa Cruz made six, the Mariners made three.
It took a three-point shot in the final minute to force overtime after Aptos had trailed by as much as 15 points in the second half.
Point guard Jonah Gonzales’ basket with 13.7 seconds left in the game brought the Mariners bench to their feet, and the defense kept Santa Cruz off the scoreboard in the final moments. A scoreboard error caused some confusion, but after a conference with the referees, the score was confirmed and the game moved into overtime.
Aptos never led in the game, keeping the score close for much of the first half, including tying the game at 25-25, but a late surge by the Cardinals led to an 11-point lead at the half.
The Mariners continued to struggle in the third quarter, but after falling further behind, the players started to rally, pulling up to a seven-point deficit to end the third quarter.
Aptos’ Cole Welle led all scoring with 25 points. Luke Rossi added 15 and Gonzales 10 for the Mariners.