Sports

Grieves, a 2009 Aptos graduate, has been hired as the new girls basketball coach, he confirmed with this newspaper on Monday evening. Grieves spent the last three seasons with the school’s boys junior varsity team, and is well acquainted with the talent-rich squad he will inherit for the upcoming 2018-19 winter season. His junior varsity team often scrimmaged with the girls varsity team over the years, and his family is ingrained in the Aptos youth basketball scene.

Aptos freshman forward Natalia Ackerman (35) shoots the ball through a pair of Soquel defenders during the second half of their SCCAL tournament championship game on Feb. 18 at Cabrillo College in Aptos. Photo by Tony Nunez

The reigning Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion, Aptos is only a couple wins away from once again capturing the league title. With all but one starter back from last year’s squad, Aptos was expected to cruise through the league. And while the Mariners are not taking any team during the final stretch of their league season for granted, they are eagerly awaiting for the real measuring stick of their skill: the Central Coast Section team playoffs.

• 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;

Abby Pardue has scored in double figures in only two of 18 games this season.

APTOS—The mission couldn’t have been any clearer for Aptos senior Caden Prichard who was set to battle Salinas for just the second time in his career. The ace running back helped lift the Mariners past the Cowboys, 44-41, in a thriller that went down to...

By JON CHOWN, Special to the Pajaronian PEBBLE BEACH—Swirling winds opened the door for Phil Mickelson to come from behind and claim his sixth title at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but leader Nick Taylor shut it with a birdie chip on the 15th...

APTOS — The Aptos High girls’ volleyball team was two points away from having at least a share of this year’s Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship.  But the Mariners came up short in a five-set loss to Harbor High on Thursday. The scores were...

CENTRAL COAST—The Central Coast Section, the local governing body for schools stretching from San Francisco along the coast to King City, this week unveiled its plans for the fall sports season and beyond.  The governing board on Tuesday announced in a press release that mid-December...

The Mariners were pumping their fists, dishing out hugs and taking photos with their outright Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship banner after downing Soquel, 63-54, in the league tournament final on Feb. 17.