Hart steps down as Falcon varsity girls coach

Longtime Scotts Valley High School Girls Varsity Basketball Coach Jim Hart recently announced that he would be stepping down as head coach to focus on his campaign for Santa Cruz County Sheriff.
“I want to be able to focus on one thing, and that’s being sheriff,” Hart said. “I think it’d be difficult to (do both).”
Hart, who has served since the 2006 season, leaves behind a program that went from being in the basement of the Central Coast Section standings, to being consistently one of the best.
“We had the best year in school history,” he said. “We were one of the top five teams in California in Division 4.”
Hart’s Falcon squad saved the best for his last season, as the team put together a 25-6 season, and was undefeated in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League. The team was the No. 1 seeded team in the CCS playoffs, and knocked off the Archbishop Mitty High School team in the opener of the CCS before being eliminated in the semifinals.
For his efforts, Hart was named Division 4 State Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports, as well as CCS Coach of the Year for all divisions by Prep2Prep.
He said that, while he was saddened to leave the program he’d worked to develop into a winner, he was confident in the team’s ability going forward — all but two players will return as seniors next season.
“There’s going to be a great group coming back,” Hart said.
While there will be a search for a new head coach, Hart heartily endorsed his longtime assistant head coach Rick Silver, and said that he is confident that Silver will be an excellent coach.