The Watsonville High boys’ soccer team earned the No. 2 seed in the Division I field for the upcoming CIF NorCal Regional playoffs.
The Wildcatz (16-4-3), who are coming off a Central Coast Section Open Division championship run, will host No. 7 Modesto (18-1-3) in the first round Tuesday at 5pm.
Watsonville jumped from No. 33 to No. 24 in the MaxPreps state rankings with its win against Branham High in Friday night’s CCS final.
The Panthers, winners of the Central California Athletic League, are ranked No. 37 in the state. They lost 5-0 to Whitney High in the Sac-Joaquin Section D-I finals.
If the ‘Catz win, they will play either No. 3 De La Selle (19-6-1) of Concord, the North Coast Section D-I champion, or No. 6 Sanger (23-3-1) in Thursday’s semifinals.
Whitney earned the top seed in the D-I field and it will host No. 8 Redwood (18-3-3), while No. 4 Reedley (19-6-3) will host the No. 5 Bruins (18-2-3), runner-up in the CCS Open Division.
Watsonville came close to a NorCal Regional title after a 2-1 loss to Marin Academy of San Rafael in the 2019 D-II title game. A year later, they suffered an early exit in the quarterfinals after a 2-0 loss to Gunn High.
Tickets for all NorCal Regional games will be available through the GoFan Online Ticketing website at gofan.co/app/school/CIF. General admission tickets are $9 and tickets for children, students or senior citizens 65 years old and above are $5.
Boys basketball
Mariners sail into NorCal Regionals: The Aptos High boys’ basketball team earned a postseason berth to the CIF NorCal Regional Division III playoffs.
The Mariners (22-5), co-champions of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, were awarded the No. 15 seed. They will play at No. 2 Oakland High (25-3) on Tuesday at 6pm.
The Wildcats, co-champion of the Oakland Athletic League, are led by junior guard/forward Money Williams, who is averaging 20 points per game this season.
Other players to watch for include juniors Te’shawn Gamble and Josh Clark, who are averaging 12.8 and 10.5 points per game, respectively.
The winner between Aptos and Oakland plays either No. 7 Lynbrook (20-7) of San Jose or No. 10 Burbank (19-9) of Sacramento.
The Mariners are coming off a 55-46 loss to Burlingame in the Central Coast Section D-III finals.
Aptos’ league rival Santa Cruz High earned the No. 16 seed in the D-III field. They will have to travel nearly five hours to take on No. 1 Pleasant Valley (27-3) in Chico on Tuesday at 6pm.
No teams from Santa Cruz County made the girls’ NorCal postseason.
Men’s basketball
Seahawks soar into CCCAA playoffs: The Cabrillo College men’s basketball team will get a chance to extend its season in the upcoming California Community College Athletic Association playoffs.
The Seahawks (17-11, 8-4), who tied with San Jose City College (22-6, 8-4) for second place in the Coast Conference South Division, earned the No. 17 seed.
They will play at No. 16 American River (17-9) in Sacramento in Tuesday’s first-round game at 7pm.
If Cabrillo wins, they will play at top-seeded City College of San Francisco in the second round on Thursday evening.
