Sports

Basketball balls will be flying through the air on Friday as local teams take part in the South County high school basketball tournaments at King City High School for the boys and Gonzales High for the girls.

The Greenfield Bruin baseball team lost 2-1 in extra innings to the host Half Moon Bay Cougars on Saturday in a non-league game.

South County high school athletic teams began observing “dead week” this past Sunday and athletes will have no contact with their coaches until July 30. Football, cross country and volleyball teams will resume regular practice after that date.

Heavy smoke that has spread from the Camp Fire in Butte County to much of Northern California, the Bay Area and the Tri-county area has forced the rescheduling of many Central Coast Section sporting events.

King City High boys cross country team placed fourth in the Division IV championship race at the California Interscholastic Federation State Meet on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Two victories last week improved the Soledad High volleyball teams record to 3-1 in the Mission Trail Athletic League and 5-3 overall. Other South County teams, however, suffered losses this past week.

With wins over visiting Robert Louis Stevenson and on the road in Watsonville against the Pajaro Valley Grizzlies, the Soledad High Lady Aztec volleyball team improved to 5-1 in Cypress Divisional play and 8-7 overall.

Longtime Soledad junior varsity head football coach Eric Rodriguez was named the Aztec varsity football head coach last week.

A fumble in the last five minutes of the game prevented the Soledad Aztec football team from coming home with a victory over the host Gilroy High Mustangs.

A 19-4 third quarter run by Soledad High changed the momentum of a close game against King City and earned the visiting Aztecs a 59-42 victory.