The Scotts Valley High girls basketball team secured back-to-back Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League titles following a decisive 60-36 victory over Aptos High on Tuesday night.
Senior guard Sammy Rebbert had a solid all-around game with eight points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals for the Falcons, who remain undefeated at 9-0 in league play this winter campaign.
“It was definitely a lot different this year, especially since we had a bunch of new players,” said Rebbert about winning a second straight league crown. “The past few seasons we were underdogs, we were coming into the season not expecting to win.”
Rebbert added, “This year kind of felt more like an expectation, so it definitely put a lot more pressure [on us] and I’m proud of how the team handled it.”
The Falcons currently own a 21-1 overall record, and are on a 31 game win streak in SCCAL regular season and tournament play since the 2024-25 season.
Senior guard Brooklyn Williams finished with a game-best 19 points, including three 3-pointers. She also surpassed 1,000 career points as a Falcon after draining one of her free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.
Scotts Valley head coach Stu Hurvitz called for a time out so Williams could celebrate with her teammates, who stormed the newest member of the millennium Falcon club as she approached the sideline.
“It’s a really cool, really fun achievement that I can go talk about,” said Williams, who made her varsity debut as a freshman. “But I think it reflects kind of, again, how close we are as a team. Because there’s no way I could have done that without my incredible teammates giving up their shots, so I can have this accomplishment.”
Fellow senior teammate Amaya Guerra had seven rebounds and two points, while junior Hanna Shehorn had 17 points, including three 3-pointers.
Freshman Isabelle Jas continues to turn heads after she recorded a double-double with 13 points and 17 rebounds to go along with a pair of blocks and two assists.
Whether it was Senior Night jitters or the pressure to stay unbeaten in SCCAL play, the Falcons couldn’t get their shots to fall in the first half.
“I think [Aptos] did a good job of shutting down Isabelle [Jas], maybe Senior Night nerves, as well,” Guerra said. “But we definitely got some things to work on for sure. They definitely gave us a run for our money.”
Scotts Valley built a slim 22-16 lead over Aptos going into halftime, yet there was plenty to talk about in the small makeshift locker room inside the gym.
“We’re super tight knit, so I think in that little room we’re able to tell ourselves we need to get this together,” Williams said. “Keep playing as a team, keep playing for each other. That kind of really reinforced it and helped us to come out stronger in the second half.”
Scotts Valley pulled away at the end of the third quarter by taking a comfortable 47-23 lead, and never looked back.
Aptos sophomore Isa Alvarez finished with a team-best 18 points, while teammate senior Rachel Beck Davis added six points.
Tuesday’s win marks 12 straight since a 44-38 defeat to Los Altos—members of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s top-tier De Anza Division—on Jan. 3.
It’s been quite the season for Scotts Valley, which includes an impressive three-game sweep to win the prestigious The King’s Academy Tournament in December.
They beat prominent teams such as Cupertino, Fremont and Gunn in the championship match.
In SCCAL play, they are outscoring opponents by an average margin of 39 points.
The Falcon senior trio (Rebbert, Williams and Guerra) along with Shehorn all say they share a special bond that not too many teams can relate to.
For starters, they’ve been playing on the same Amateur Athletic Union team with the Reggie Stephens Foundation basketball program.
And they have matching black socks with the logo to prove it.
“We all just are very close, and I think we have a very good chemistry,” Guerra said. “We can flow really well together. And then Isabelle [Jas] is just the fifth key.”
Williams added they truly are a unique bunch.
“There’s, of course, the skill aspect but I think we’re all just dogs,” she said. “We all just kind of go for it, and it’s up to us to see how far we can go.”
Scotts Valley plays at Harbor on Feb. 6 for a chance to cap off a second consecutive perfect 10-0 regular season in SCCAL play. Tipoff is slated for 6pm.
The Falcons earned the top seed and a bye in the opening round of the SCCAL tourney, which begins Feb. 9.
The plan is to also earn a high seed in the upcoming Central Coast Section playoffs set for Feb. 20.
Rebbert said they have high hopes, and the potential, for a deep postseason run, including a trip to the California Interscholastic Federation Championships in March.
“It’s just about how hard we’re gonna work for it, and I think we have that,” she said. “Just as long as everyone stays committed, and working hard, I think we can push it.”
