



Aptos High’s boys soccer team helped its bid to repeat as Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion by beating host Harbor 3-1 in Santa Cruz on Friday.
The Mariners rebounded from a loss to Santa Cruz two days earlier to end the Pirates’ 11-match unbeaten streak.
Aptos, Harbor are now tied in the league standings. They’ll square off again in Aptos on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
Danny Garcia converted a penalty kick in the 10th minute for the Pirates (10-2-1, 2-1-0), but the Mariners (7-3-1, 2-1-0) responded with three unanswered goals.
Nicolas Topete scored on a pass from Damian Garcia to knot the score in the 17th minute.
Haziel Parra scored the decisive goal when he followed up a rebound in the 38th minute.
Julian Torres gave the Mariners some insurance when he scored on a pass from Ivan Zavala in the 59th minute.Mariners goalie Noah Curran made six saves and kept his teammates organized and focused.
“I want to commend the strong team effort tonight,” Mariners coach Roberto Zuniga said. “Our defense played very well and made huge contributions to our win tonight. Nami Banks led our midfield in the transition and attacking to create many opportunities which eventually resulted into plays that ended up in the back of the net.”
Aptos hosts Scotts Valley (0-4-2, 0-2-0) on Monday at 7 p.m.
Goalie Damian Escalante made four saves for the Pirates, who host Santa Cruz (7-4-1, 1-0-1) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
NBA G League
Salt Lake City 132, at Santa Cruz 127 >> Forward Kevin Knox II scored a game-high 35 points and pulled down seven rebounds, but the Warriors suffered a narrow loss at Kaiser Permanente Arena on Friday.
Forward Jackson Rowe erupted for a career-high 33 points and had nine rebounds and two blocks for the Warriors (7-4), who led 70-68 at the half, but were outscored 34-22 in the third quarter.
Forward Blake Hinson came off the bench, made a season-high six 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Guard Yuri Collins had seven points, a game-high 15 assists, and pulled down four rebounds.
Guard Dereon Seabron led the Stars (6-5) with 33 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Two-way center Micah Potter had 30 points and seven assists, and two-way center Oscar Tshiebwe had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Reserve forward Dane Goodwin had 24 points and seven rebounds, and forward Keshawn Justice had 18 points and six rebounds.
The teams play again at KP Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Surfing
SLO CAL Open at Pismo Beach >> Santa Cruz’s Sam Coffey and John Mel tied for 17th overall at the World Surf League’s SLO CAL Open at Pismo Beach, a Qualifying Series 3,000-point event.
In the Round of 32 on Saturday, Coffey took third in Heat 4 with a two-wave total score of 8.63, and Mel (8.03) took third in Heat 5, held in 1- to 4-foot waves.
Both surfers earned 480 points for their finishes.
Kade Matson (12.67) and Jake Davis (10.87) advanced from Heat 4 and Kolohe Andino (13.83) and Lucca Mesinas (13.10) advances from Heat 5.
Girls soccer
Pajaro Valley 4, at North Salinas 0 >> Valeria Acosta had a hat trick, giving her 32 goals on the season, and the Grizzlies stayed unbeaten in PCAL Mission Division play Friday.
Scarlet Gomez also scored a goal and had two assists for the Grizzlies (13-1-0, 6-0-0). Leslie Carrisoza also had an assist.
Goalie Kendra Rivas made four saves for the Grizzlies, who posted their fifth shutout of the season. They play at North Monterey County (11-2-1, 4-1-1) on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m.
Carmel 1, at PCS 1 >> Ayla Aslanian-Ryon scored on a pass from Anna Walker-Edwards in the 46th minute, and the Pumas played to a draw in their PCAL Mission Division match at Cabrillo College on Friday.
Pumas goalie Hailey Woelfel made two saves over 65 minutes and Kat Buckley didn’t face a shot on goal over the last 15 minutes.
PCS (4-6-1, 2-3-1) plays at Monte Vista Christian (3-7-3, 1-4-1) on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m.
NMC 4, at MVC 0 >> The Mustangs had seven shots on goal in their PCAL Mission Division loss Friday.
Freshman goalie Charlotte Groves made six saves for the Mustangs. Sophomore Chloe Morrow came on the second half and made one save.
MVC (3-7-3, 1-4-1) hosts PCS (4-6-1, 2-3-1) on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m.
Boys basketball
St. Francis 77, at PCS 55 >> Senior Nash Horton had 15 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the Sharks’ PCAL Cypress Division win at Gateway School in Santa Cruz on Friday.
Junior teammate Robert Gomez also scored 15 points, and had two rebounds and two steals.
Jesse Navarro scored 12 points for the Sharks (15-3, 6-0). Jacob Jimenez had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Isaiah Villalobos had 10 points, three rebounds, and two steals.
Garrett Koontz scored a game-high 23 points for PCS, and Ian Bulfin added 11 points before fouling out. Son-Mai Clark scored six points after coming off the bench.
St. Francis plays at King City (2-13, 1-5) on Tuesday at 7 p.m., and PCS (2-10, 0-6) hosts King City on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Girls basketball
Watsonville 49, at Alisal 44 >> Freshman Isabella Alvarez had 21 points, six rebounds, and three steals, and the Wildcatz wrapped up the first half of PCAL Gabilan Division play with a win on Friday.
Junior Stephanie Martinez had 15 points, nine rebounds, and three steals for the Wildcatz (15-3, 5-1). Senior Fernanda Lazo had seven points, nine rebounds, and four steals
Watsonville plays at Hollister (10-7, 4-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
St. Francis 51, at PCS 38 >> Freshman guard Liliana Whitmeyer made three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points as the Sharks stayed unbeaten in PCAL Cypress Division play Friday.
It was her second straight game with 20 points. She also had six rebounds, four steals, two assists, and two blocks.
Senior guard Maeve Flynn made three 3s, scored 11 points, and had five rebounds for the Sharks (16-2, 7-0), who have won seven straight games.
Sophomore guard Maya Calfee had nine points, seven assists, six steals, and four blocks. Freshman guard Keira Grio also scored nine points.
Sophomore forward Kat Buckley had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Pumas (8-7, 4-3). Senior guard Addie Payne had 11 points, 16 rebounds, and three assists. Junior guard Julia Guth had five points and nine rebounds.
On Tuesday, St. Francis plays at King City (6-11, 5-2) at 5:30 p.m., and PCS (8-7, 4-3) hosts Santa Catalina (0-11, 0-6) at 7 p.m.
At Pacific Grove 55, MVC 35 >> Sophia Cortes scored 22 points in the Mustangs’ PCAL Mission Division loss Friday.
MVC closes the first half of league play at Stevenson (14-3, 3-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Men’s volleyball
UC Santa Cruz 3, at Mount Union 1 >> AJ Contreras had 17 kills and seven digs, and the Banana Slugs earned a 25-20, 18-25, 26-24, 25-18 win in Alliance, Ohio, on Friday.
Riley Norman had 16 kills for UCSC (6-3), and Caio Valente had 24 assists.
Senior outside hitter Jack McClure had 18 kills and seven digs for the Purple Raiders (5-4). Senior setter Will Heeney made 39 assists.
UCSC plays at Baldwin Wallace (3-1) in Berea, Ohio, on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Men’s swimming
At Pomona-Pitzer 156, UCSC 79 >> The Banana Slugs earned two first-place finishes in their meet in Claremont on Friday.
Massimo Reyna (200 freestyle, 1:44.54) and Teo Truong (200 backstroke, 1:57.28) earned wins for UCSC.
UCSC competes at Biola in La Mirada on Saturday at noon.
Women’s swimming
At Pomona-Pitzer 156, UCSC 69 >> The Banana Slugs earned three first-place finishes in their meet in Claremont on Friday.
Maddy Gruender (200 freestyle, 1:58.37), Piper Strickler (1,000 free, 10:49.99), and Katy Hawk (200 butterfly, 2:12.23) earned wins for UCSC.
UCSC competes at Biola in La Mirada on Saturday at noon.