Sports

Stephen Curry, Quinn Cook and DeMarcus Cousins brought the rain with them. With that trio of Golden State Warriors watching courtside, the Santa Cruz Warriors put on a shooting clinic to cruise to a 123-104 victory over the Stockton Kings in their home opener Wednesday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

Marea Zlatunich could have had a very different high school experience. Now a league, section and state champion runner for the Aptos High Mariners, Zlatunich didn’t show up to the first day of cross country practice during her freshman year. “I honestly didn’t want to do cross country,” Zlatunich said. “I did it as an eighth grader and I wanted to quit after the first day, but my family didn’t let me.” But when her friend, Annika Niles, begged her to come out for the second day of practice because “she didn’t have any friends on the team,” Zlatunich reluctantly obliged. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of her young life.

To say Aptos High senior Hunter Matys was on top of his game at the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League boys track and field championships would probably a real understatement.

The Seahawks knocked off the defending California Community College Athletic Association champion MiraCosta College, 3-0, on May 10 at West Valley College to become the first team from Northern California to win the state beach volleyball championship.

Aptos High dedicated its baseball diamond to brothers Paul and Robert Bailey on Tuesday before the Mariners’ Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League game against Soquel High.

• Last year’s record: 7-4 (Central Coast Section Open Division III qualifier) • Last year’s league record: 6-1 (Monterey Bay League Gabilan division runner-up) • Last year’s MaxPreps state ranking: 226th • Coach: Randy Blankenship • Key losses: Blake Wheeler;

Nikki Hiltz made her first-ever trip to Boston to compete at the Boston Athletic Association Invitational Mile on April 13 and did what she’s been doing throughout her prestigious running career.

The former head coach and general manager of the four-time Arena Football League-champion San Jose SaberCats, Arbet didn’t promise to break his foot off in his player’s “John Brown hind parts,” as Denzel Washington so eloquently said while playing Boone in the 2000 football flick. But the Seahawks’ heavyweight offseason hire does expect his players to be as close to perfect as possible.

APTOS–The Aptos High girls’ basketball team was a heavy favorite going into Friday night’s Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Tournament championship against Soquel High. Guard Gabby Giuffre made that clear from the start, scoring the game’s first eight points to help the Mariners cruise past...

Aptos High senior Hunter Matys made his trip to the CIF State Track and Field Championships a memorable one by medaling in the long jump event on Saturday.