Scotts Valley High boys’ basketball team fell to top seeded The King’s Academy, 75-49, in the Central Coast Section Division IV quarterfinals Tuesday evening.
Senior Jacob Sanders finished with a team-best 12 points for the No. 9 Falcons, and senior Taylor Knox added 10 points. Teammates seniors Zach Shilling contributed eight and Will Shilling had six points for Scotts Valley.
“We couldn’t quite get over the hump tonight, but I was pretty proud of the way they all played,” Scotts Valley head coach Gabe Gonzales said.
Scotts Valley took an early lead in the first quarter, yet the Knights slowly trickled their way ahead and never looked back.
“I thought our strategy was pretty good. Our defensive strategy went really well,” Gonzales said. “The key was, what we talked about, was [TKA’s] offensive rebounds, and they pounded the glass.”
At the end of the first half, the Knights had nine offensive rebounds and on defense they scored several points off of turnovers.
“They had 19 points on offensive rebounds and steals,” Gonzales said. “We were down 20 at the half, so that was the game.”
Scotts Valley had a solid CCS playoff run starting with a 55-43 win over Stevenson in the opening round Feb. 21. Knox scored 21 points, Will Shilling added 13 points and Sanders contributed 11.
Zach Shilling finished with 10 points for the Falcons, who began the game with a 14-6 lead. Will Shilling scored nine points in the opening stanza, and Sanders had eight points in the fourth, including a tip dunk that helped seal the deal.
About 24 hours later, Knox and senior Alex Burgos each had 15 points in the Falcons’ 65-45 win over No. 8 Jefferson in Round 2 on Feb. 22. Will Shilling added 13 points and his brother, Zach, contributed 11 points.
Gonzales said he was impressed on how resilient his players were during a challenging season both on and off the court. The Falcons finished with a 14-15 overall record, and placed fifth in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League standings with a 5-5 record in league play this season.
“A lot of guys were dealing with some stuff and just to see them grow so quickly as men, for me, the one word that comes to mind is resilient,” Gonzales said. “They knew that this was their last year and they weren’t going to let anything get in the way. I just couldn’t be any prouder to be part of their magical run.”
Girls’ Basketball
At Notre Dame Belmont 58, Scotts Valley 42: SCCAL champion Scotts Valley watched its season come to an end following a loss to No. 4 Notre Dame Belmont in the Division IV quarterfinals Tuesday evening.
Abby Shi had a team-best 15 points for the No. 5 seeded Falcons, and Sammy Rebbert added 11 points.
Teammate Hanna Shehorn contributed eight points for Scotts Valley, which dug themselves into a hole trailing 20-5 at the end of the first quarter.
“After the first quarter, we settled down and it was basically a one-point game the rest of the way,” Scotts Valley head coach Stu Hurvitz said. “We started off poorly…they hit 10 3-pointers, that’s tough to overcome.”
Mika Cary had a game-high 18 points, including five 3-pointers for Notre Dame. Teammate Anahi Perez added 16 points, including four 3-pointers, while Lizzie Johnson contributed 10.
“They played a good game,” Hurvitz said. “I think we just ran into that they had a really good shooting night. At the beginning of the game we had some good looks, good shots, they just didn’t fall.”
The Falcons were coming off an impressive 68-14 victory over No. 12 Mercy in the second round on Feb. 22. Shehorn recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Rebbert added 16 points, five rebounds and three assists. Brooklyn Williams had 13 points for Scotts Valley, which finished with a 23-3 overall record and a perfect 10-0 record in SCCAL play this season.
“Overall it was a good season,” Hurvitz said. “It’s tough to lose that way, but we didn’t play our best.”
At Design Tech 56, San Lorenzo Valley 32: The Cougars fell to the No. 11 seeded Dragons in the first round of the D-IV playoffs on Feb. 22. SLV finished with a 9-14 overall record this season.
Wrestling
SLV’s Attia advances to CIF State finals: SLV sophomore Gabriel Attia took fourth in the 285-pound heavyweight division at the Central Coast Section Masters Meet Championships at Independence High on Feb. 22.
The Cougars standout athlete punched his ticket to the California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Championships at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield from Feb. 27-March 1. He will face Pitman junior Troy Ceja out of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.
Attia finished with a 4-2 overall record at this past weekend’s masters meet. He lost to Fremont’s Jorge Villagomez in the opening round, but then bounced back with wins over Bellarmine’s Casey Huchim, Andrew Hill’s Andrew Hernandez, Woodside’s Carlos Latu and Serra’s Trevor Wilson in the consolation bracket.
In the third-place match, Attia lost to Saint Francis sophomore Ricky Gaoteote in an 8-2 decision.
Teammates junior Ollin Bates (215 pounds) and senior Grady Cloyd (190 pounds) placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Aptos sophomore Cruz Contreras took third in the 125-pound division to advance to this week’s CIF State championships. He will face Walnut senior Ronnie Ramirez out of the CIF Southern Section.
