SALINAS VALLEY — Soledad High girls basketball team’s season has come to an end after reaching the semifinals of the Central Coast Section (CCS) Division IV Championships.
The Lady Aztecs were seeded ninth in the division but won a play-in game on Friday at home against unseeded Overfelt Royals, 62-30, followed by a 44-43 victory against Christopher on Saturday.
Then, on Tuesday night, Soledad played against the No. 1 seed Valley Christian Warriors of the West Catholic Athletic League in San Jose, where they lost 52-37 in the playoffs.
Against the Royals, Soledad’s Aliyah Velarde scored 18 points with six rebounds, four assists and six steals. Delylah Ocampo scored 13 points with nine rebounds, five assists and six steals. Jessica Morales scored 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and added five steals. Monique Trujillo finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
On Saturday against Christopher, Velarde had another solid game scoring a team-high 15 points. Ocampo and Landeros joined Velarde in double figures in scoring with 10 points apiece.
Soledad head coach Kevin Pena had high praise for his team in their winning rounds of CCS play.
“Our team defense has been outstanding, and our guard play has really stepped up on the offensive side of the ball,” Pena said. “They are reading the floor well and making the right plays, whether that’s kicking the ball out to shooters or dropping it off for our bigs. These have been two huge team wins for us.”
The King City girls basketball team made it to the quarterfinals of Division III after earning a spot with a 39-25 play-in win against Pajaro Valley last Friday at home. The next night, the Mustangs lost in round two of the playoffs, 56-29, to No. 5 seed Aptos.
In the win over Pajaro Valley, Alizah Carrillo scored 13 points and teammate Crystal Paramo finished with a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Against Aptos, Dania Rodriguez led the Mustangs with eight points, while Katia Slama and Paramo contributed with six points apiece.
King City head coach Angel Trujillo was proud of his team’s work in the third game of the year against Pajaro Valley.
“It was the third time around with Pajaro Valley and Ju Ju Ramirez and Heidi Medina stepped up for us on the defensive end in the playoffs big time,” Trujillo said. “Katia Slama and Dania Rodriguez really helped us out on the offensive end.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
The Pacific Coast Athletic League champion Soledad Aztec boys were seeded No. 12 in Division II of the CCS playoffs.
Soledad began the tournament with a 55-38 play-in victory over Gilroy on Friday at home, and advanced to the quarterfinals on Saturday, where they were beaten 83-19 by the fifth-seed Burlingame.
Against Gilroy, Pedro Morales led a trio of Aztecs in double-figures with 13 points. Calvin DeShazo scored 11 points and had 14 rebounds, Jeronimo Moralesl added 11 points and Ayden Urquidez contributed with 10 points. In their last game against a tough Burlingame team, Pedro Morales scored 10 points to lead the Soledad scorers.
Gonzales played two games in the Division IV tournament, defeating KIPP of San Jose in a play-in game last Friday in the Roger Fernando Gym by a 64-17 score, then losing 60-25 to the host Carmel Padres in the second round on Saturday.
The Spartans were the 11th seed in the division and the Padres were the sixth seed.
Gonzales’ Joshua Mariscal had 20 points and Fernando De Leon scored 12 points in the win against KIPP. Mariscal led the Spartans with 14 points in the Carmel game.
The King City Mustangs were unseeded in Division III and beaten 59-34 in the play-in game against the 12th seed Overfelt Royals.
