SUNNYVALE >> One of the best seasons in Aptos High’s boys basketball history came to a screeching halt in the second round of the CIF Division III NorCal Regional playoffs on Thursday.

The No. 9 seed Mariners were tasked with attempting to shut down No. 1 The King’s Academy in its home gymnasium, packed with its loud and supportive student section. It was a tall order against a tall, lengthy, athletic and unselfish team. And it wasn’t close.

The Knights (25-4 overall) turned in their best all-around showing this season, according to their coach, Cameron Bradford, and the Mariners (25-6) turned in one of their worst as TKA plowed its way to a 73-36 blowout.

“They (the Mariners) had a hell of a season, but we just ran into a buzzsaw tonight,” Mariners coach Brian Bowyer said. “I’ve seen a lot of film on them and I haven’t seen what I saw tonight. They were shooting the ball, everybody. Everybody who put up a shot for them, it was either going it or it looked like it was going in. Everything they did worked for them. And they deserved it. They were the better team tonight, hands down. They played great.”

The Mariners not only graduate five seniors, all starters — forward Isaiah Ackerman, wing Nick Tovani, center Owen Warmerdam, and guards Ryan Solorio and Demian Matlow — they also lose their coach. Bowyer informed his seniors on Monday that this season, his eighth as head coach and 20th in the program, would be his last. He informed the rest of the team on Wednesday.

“I’m happy with how my team played, and with all the seniors,” Solorio said. “I’ve been teammates with these guys for four years now. We’ve been putting in all the hard work, been through the losses, been through the wins. I just love ’em. I love these guys. I wouldn’t play with anybody else.”

Or for anybody else.

“At the end of the day, he’s just the man,” said Ackerman, of his coach.

“It was just time,” Bowyer said. “New chapter, I’m ready for it.”

They’ll depart knowing the were one of the school’s all-time elite squads. The Mariners posted its first unbeaten season in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League since 1986 and reached a Central Coast Section final for the first time since 2022 and seventh time in school history. The Mariners also earned their first NorCal win since 2015.

“Coming out of here, our coach tells us, ‘Aptos has had 56 teams now. You guys are for sure one of the top five we’ve had, in a minute,’ ” Solorio said, “just the chemistry we showed on the court and just the hard-nosed grit we showed. We don’t know how to give up. Our team has never known how to do that. We play Mariner basketball.”

The Knights, the newly crowned West Bay Athletic League and CCS D-IV champion, welcomed the Mariners with the utmost respect, but intent on shutting down Ackerman. Instead, they shut down the entire Aptos team. The Mariners were held to a season-low point total and their normally stingy defense gave up a season-high total.

“We came in and we were confident and, man, they punched us in the mouth,” Bowyer said. “We tried to see if we could weather the storm, but the storm never ended. They just kept coming at us, and they were good.”

The Knights shined in every aspect of the game: defense, rebounding, passing, scoring in transition, perimeter shooting … and it led to a running clock in the fourth quarter.

TKA subbed out its entire starter five while holding a 70-25 lead with 6:07 remaining. Aptos closed with a 11-3 run.

The Knights shot the lights out. They finished with 12 3-pointers. Four of their five starters made at least one field goal from beyond the arc.

“Honestly, that was probably the best game we’ve played all year,” Bradford said. “It’s great for us right now. We’re peaking at the right time. The ball was moving, the defense was flying around, and they were making shots. It was a great team effort.”

Junior guard Xavier Barnett scored nine of his 13 points in the first quarter, and teammate Caedmon Dickson, a senior wing, made three 3s early and scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half.

The Knights led 23-6 after the first quarter and 48-20 at the half.

Any hopes the Mariners had of a second-half surge — like the one that propelled them past No. 8 San Domenico in the first round — were dashed by junior guard Claxton Ladine. He made four of his six 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 22 points.

“Our chemistry plays a big part in all our wins,” Ladine said. “We all play together. When we’re moving the ball, we’re dangerous.”

Senior guard/forward Karan Kolappa, a transfer from Santa Clara, scored 14 points for the Knights, and star freshman guard Boss Mhoon, who has already been offered a scholarship from UC San Diego, counted a slam dunk among his six points.

Ackerman, who joined the 1,000-point club earlier this season, made three dunks and seven free throws and finished with a game-high 24 points.

Solorio, who made a pair of 3s, and Tovani each scored six points.

Bowyer led the Mariners to the CCS playoffs in all eight of his seasons at the helm, plus three NorCal playoff berths, His teams earned five SCCAL titles and helped him post a 162-75 record.

“I’ve played for Bowyer for four years,” Ackerman said. “I’ve known him for a long time. It stings; it feels like you let your coach down, you feel like you ended your coach’s career, but he’s had such a wonderful career at Aptos. He’s had such an impact on me, this entire team. I couldn’t have asked for a better coach. He’s why I came to Aptos.”