The Scotts Valley High girls basketball team will enter the Central Coast Section playoffs on Saturday, Feb. 23, a week after losing 53-50 in overtime to Soquel High in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League tournament final.
The Falcons (16-10) received the third seed in the Division IV tournament and have first- and second-round byes.
Their first opponent in the playoffs was still unknown as of press time Thursday, Feb. 21. The candidates were Harker and Oceana high schools, which played in the first round, and Monte Vista Christian High, which was set to face the winner of the first-round game.
The Falcons will play at Notre Dame Belmont High School at a time still to be determined.
The team enters the section tournament after falling in the SCCAL final in heartbreaking fashion.
The Falcons led the Soquel Knights 38-18 heading into the fourth quarter Saturday, Feb. 16, at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz.
However, the team was outscored 29-9 in the final period and headed into overtime tied at 47, and the Knights hit a 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer for the win.
Scotts Valley freshman Nikiya Bechtel scored 20 points in the game, including 3-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line, to lead the Falcons.
Mandy Silver scored 10, Nadene Hart chipped in eight and Angela Silver scored seven.
Soquel, the top seed in the CCS tournament, went 24-2 on the season and was undefeated in 12 league games.
