SANTA CRUZ >> Senior guard/forward Isaiah Ackerman scored six points in overtime, and Aptos High’s boys basketball team earned its biggest win on the young season to advance from the semifinals at the 11th Aptos/Santa Cruz Warriors NorCal Invitational at Kaiser Permanente Arena on Friday.

Ackerman finished with a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds, as the Mariners upset Los Gatos, the defending Central Coast Section Division I champion, 50-47 in a physical, preseason thriller that featured 12 lead changes on the home court of the NBA G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors.

“The kids are so excited about it,” Mariners coach Brian Bowyer said. “They know what Los Gatos is. They know how good they are, even without (injured senior forward Scotty Brennan), they’re a really good team.”

It was the second 2023-24 section champion that the Mariners (8-3 overall) have beaten this preseason. They knocked off Carmel, the defending CCS D-IV champion, 50-47 in the semifinals of the 76th annual Carmel Invitational on Dec. 20 before being toppled by Bellarmine College Prep of San Jose in the final a day later.

Los Gatos (8-2) entered the game ranked No. 5 in the CCS and No. 51 in the California by maxpreps.com. Aptos was No. 25 and No. 261, respectively.

Aptos faces Half Moon Bay (7-1) — one of only two public schools to qualify for the CCS’s prestigious Open Division playoffs last season — in the tournament championship on Saturday at 8 p.m.

“Good atmosphere,” Ackerman said. “I loved the atmosphere. Tight games, they’re more fun than anything. It’s the best basketball you can play.”

Ackerman’s father, Tony, graduated from HMB in 1994 and is in the Cougars’ Athletics Hall of Fame. Tony’s No. 22 basketball jersey — the same number his son wears — has been retired.

The Cougars beat Santa Teresa 64-59 in the other semifinal Friday night.

The Saints (6-5) will face Los Gatos for third place on Saturday at 5 p.m.

It’s the first time since 2013-2014 that the Mariners have made the final of their own tournament.

“That was huge,” Mariners senior wing Nick Tovani said. “Big D-I team. It was great to come out and give them a good game. I think our passing and cohesiveness is what drives us to these wins.”

Defense, too. Aptos has held eight of its opponents to 50 points or less and each of those games has ended in victory.

“Defense, defense wins championships,” Ackerman said. “If we play solid defense, we can play with anybody.”

Ackerman wasn’t the only reason the Mariners advanced, just a big one.

The same could be said about many of his teammates. Tovani scored nine of his 16 points in the first quarter. He also had seven rebounds and five assists. Senior guard Ryan Solorio made a 3-pointer in the third quarter, his lone field goal, and pulled down seven rebounds. And Owen Warmerdam, a 6-foot-8 senior center, had nine points, six rebounds, and six blocks.

“Everything is right there at the basket,” Bowyer said of Warmerdam’s blocks. “That’s probably eight to 10 points that are erased off the board right there. I think Isaiah had four blocks. Everybody did their part to win the game.”

Solorio recorded a clutch offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to the top of the key, and Ackerman buried a 3-pointer to give the Mariners a 42-40 lead with 25.6 second left in regulation. But Wildcats senior Anthony Martin made a jumper with 10 seconds remaining to knot the score and force overtime.

The Mariners never trailed in the extra stanza. Ackerman made a jumper and a free throw, and Tovani made a pair of free throws to put their team ahead 47-42.

Wildcats sophomore Blake Mordaunt was fouled on his 3-point basket and made the ensuing free throw to complete the four-point play, which brought his team within one point, 47-46, with 1:58 on the clock.

Ackerman made three free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“I was most proud of how we executed down the end,” Bowyer said. “We tried to run some stuff at the end, and my guys just did exactly what I asked them to do. We didn’t always score, but we ran what we wanted to run. At the end, we wanted to foul them, not to shoot a three. We didn’t want to give them an opportunity to tie the game with a three, so we fouled them. We wouldn’t have been in that position unless Isaiah hit both of his free throws; he did. And I asked my guys to foul before they got to half court; they did. They did exactly what I asked them to do.”

Junior Zach Otoupal scored 21 points for the Wildcats, and Martin scored 16 points. Mordaunt made a pair of 3s and scored four of his seven points in OT.

“It was a really, really exciting nonleague, playoff feeling game,” Wildcats coach Nick Ward said. “It was a lot fun to be a part of. Both teams left it on the floor. And that’s what you’re looking for in the preseason to kinda prepare for the league.”

The teams squared off in a CCS Sportsmanship exhibition game on Nov 21, and the Mariners remember losing by 40 points. Aptos was without Ackerman, who was battling an ankle injury, as well as several players still playing for the school’s football team, including Solorio and Warmerdam.

Aptos still isn’t at full strength. Starting point guard Demian Matlow has missed five games with an ankle injury, and has been replaced by junior Diego Mejia.

The Wildcats weren’t at full strength either. Brennan, injured on a nasty landing following his dunk against Soquel on Thursday, sat out with a concussion and fractured wrist on his non-shooting hand. He’s expected to miss a couple of weeks.

Brennan’s absence is a big loss for the Wildcats.

“Our margin for victory is so small right now, with Scotty being out,” Ward said. “It’s huge.”

Pioneer 61, Soquel 55 >> Senior Steely Deans scored 14 points, but the Knights came up short in the consolation semifinals at the Aptos/Santa Cruz Warriors NorCal Tournament at KP Arena on Friday.

Nico Ramirez made six free throws and finished with 10 points for the Knights (4-7), who were outscored 14-7 in the second quarter and trailed 33-27 at the half. Senior Nolen Westfall also scored 10 points.

Sam Stepan scored 21 points to lead the Mustangs (7-3).

On Saturday, Soquel faces North Monterey County (3-4) for seventh place at 12:30 a.m., and Pioneer plays St. Mary’s (6-7) of Stockton for the consolation championship at 2 p.m.

Scotts Valley 67, at St. Francis 46 >> Alex Burgos scored a team-high 16 points, and the Falcons won their nonleague game Friday.

Jacob Sanders and Will Shilling each scored 15 points for the Falcons (5-6), and Zach Shilling added 12 points.

The injury riddled Falcons, who suited up just six players, outscored the Sharks 33-18 in the second half.

“It was a great team effort and four people in double figures was huge for us,” Falcons coach Gabe Gonzales said.

Robert Gomez had 14 points, four rebounds, and three steals for the Sharks (7-3). Jacob Jimenez had 12 points and four rebounds, Mario Zermiano scored nine points, and Nash Horton had eight points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals.

On Saturday, the Sharks play at Harbor (4-3) at noon, and the Falcons host Soledad (2-7) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Maryknoll d. Santa Cruz >> The Cardinals lost to the Spartans of Honolulu, Hawaii, in the teams’ Damian Lillard Classic consolation bracket game at Oakland High on Friday. The final score was not available online.

Santa Cruz (3-6) plays James Logan (2-7) at Oakland High on Saturday at 10:35 a.m.

Girls basketball

Westmont 41, Aptos 27 >> Junior Abby Sherwood had 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists, but the Mariners finished 0-3 and took eighth place at the Aptos/Santa Cruz Warriors NorCal Invitational at Kaiser Permanente Arena on Saturday.

Senior Berkeley Ashby had seven points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals for Mariners (7-4).

Aptos led 11-7 after the first quarter, but was outscored by the Warriors (6-4) in each of the next three quarters.

Sophomore Lara Macian scored14 points for the Warriors, and freshman Naviya Popli scored 10 points.

Aptos hosts Summit Shasta (2-3) on Monday at 4 p.m.

Watsonville 45, Encinal 41 >> Freshman Isabella Alvarez scored 19 points, and the Wildcatz won their Pearl Division opener at the 24th West Coast Jamboree at Dublin High on Friday.

Junior Leilani Yasin had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcatz (9-1), who play McDermitt (9-0) of Nevada in the semifinals on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

The unbeaten Bulldogs of McDermitt, Nevada, beat St. Vincent De Paul (7-3) of Petaluma 47-38 in the first round.

Soledad 44, Monte Vista Christian 42 >> Senior Sophia Cortes scored a team-high 17 points, but the Mustangs were edged in their opener at the Lady Shark Shootout at St. Francis High in Watsonville on Friday.

Senior forward/center Amya Tellez scored 14 points for the Mustangs, who entered the fourth quarter facing a 31-22 deficit.

Justina Botello scored 17 points for the Aztecs (8-1), and Delylah Ocampo scored 14 points.

On Saturday, MVC faces St. Francis in the consolation semifinals at 3 p.m., and Soledad plays Alisal in the semifinals at 6 p.m.

Alisal 65, at St. Francis 38 >> Junior guard/forward Nayeli Gil-Silva had 33 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, and four steals to lead the Trojans in their opener at the Lady Shark Shootout at St. Francis High in Watsonville on Friday.

Junior guard Mia Rivera had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Trojans (5-3), who led 32-16 at the half.

On Saturday, St. Francis faces MVC in the consolation semifinals at 3 p.m., and Alisal plays Soledad in the semifinals at 6 p.m.

NMC 52, Pajaro Valley 24 >> The Grizzlies lost their opening game at the Lady Shark Shootout at St. Francis High in Watsonville on Friday.

On Saturday, Pajaro Valley faces Monterey in the consolation semifinals at 1:30 p.m., and NMC plays Pacific Grove in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m.

The Breakers beat Monterey 37-26 in their first-round game.