1972-73 Boys Basketball Team

Aptos High School opened its doors to 900 students in the fall of 1969. These students came from across the district, from Aptos Junior High School, from Rolling Hills Middle School, and even from Watsonville High School. It was a diverse, and disparate, group of students.

 

Thirteen boys, under the direction of the legendary coach Bill Warmerdam, tried-out for the varsity team in 1969. That team went 10-16 in their inaugural season, but Coach Warmerdam had planted a seed.  Within a handful of years, the boys basketball program, under the direction of Coach Warmerdam, and assisted by terrific coaches like Ray Tanimoto, Norm Hagen, and Steve Miles, would put Aptos on the map. Aptos would become one of the premier basketball schools, not just in the county, but in all of northern California, winning 10 league championships in the span of 14 years and being a regular presence in the CCS playoffs, culminating with a CCS and Nor-Cal Championship in 1986. In 1986, the Mariners lost in the CIF State Championship 72-46 to Scott Williams and his Wilson High Wildcats. Williams, a McDonald’s All-American, went on to star at the University of North Carolina and he played 15 years in the NBA, winning three championships. The Mariners finished with a record of 32-2, they were ranked 6^th in the state, and they were named the California Division III Team-of-the-Year. Along the way, Aptos re-wrote the record-book, setting new scoring records locally and state-wide, including most points in a game, most points in a half, and most points in a quarter, and all this before the advent of the 3-point line.

 

However, someone had to start the dynasty, some team had to be first. That team was the 1972-73 boys basketball team, Warmer’s original “Run and Gun” Mariners. Four years after Aptos HS opened, compiling an overall record of 25-5, these boys won our school’s very first league championship, in any sport. They ended the drought and started the tradition. The running and pressing Mariners were led by a pair of lightning-quick guards, point-guard Loren Staley and off-guard John McNulty.  Small-forward Kjell Stakkestad led the team and the league in scoring, and he was the MBL MVP.  6’5” Dan Singleton sported a shooter’s deft touch in a tall-man’s body, and center Chris Keys tenaciously guarded the paint and led the team in rebounds. In addition to Stakkestad, Staley, Singleton, and Keys were all 1^st-team All-League selections.  Coming off-the-bench with key contributions were Dan Gruber, Damon Anderson, Eric Stakkestad, Damon Anderson, Wes Taylor, Jeff Hyuck, and Barney Townsend.

 

These Mariners opened the door. They were the first, the trailblazers, the barrier breakers, and the school rallied around them. Playing in the sauna of Warmerdam Gymnasium, in front capacity crowds, running, pressing, and gunning, these Mariners laid the foundation for Mariner basketball. They steam-rolled the MBL with a 14-1 record, including a CCS record-setting 115 points in a victory over Soquel. They won the MBL Tournament, avenging their only league loss against Alisal in the championship game, and they qualified for the first-time for the CCS playoffs. In 1973, the CCS playoffs were an elite, single-division tournament, and only the 12 league champions were invited. In the first and second-rounds, these Mariners beat Menlo 77-65 and Palma 79-58, winning the Region IV Championship, and earning a berth into the CCS Final Four at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion. In the semi-finals, the Mariners lost to eventual CCS champion Riordan 80-73, but won the third-place game against pre-tournament favorite Silver Creek in a blow-out.

 

It was a magical season, a championship season, and, in the process, the 1972-73 Mariner Boys Basketball Team gave the Aptos community an identity. It gave Aptos a team and a school to rally around, to talk about, and to be proud of. It was the start of something big.

 

The team was presented into the Hall by former Sentinel sports reporter Ed Vyeda, and accepted by Loren Staley.