By Ryan Moses
Published Feb. 8, 2008 in the Santa Cruz Sentinel
As Watsonville senior forward Kraig Mitchell pulled a brace off his left ankle, assistant coach James Gomez asked him how it felt.
"To be a champion? It feels pretty good," Mitchell said.
That's something no member of the Wildcatz boys basketball has been able to say in 37 years.
Watsonville beat visiting North Monterey County 70-40 in front of a standing room-only crowd Friday night to clinch the Monterey Bay League title -- the first league title the team has won since 1971.
"It was exciting watching the clock run down knowing we were going to become champs," said senior guard Robert Carrancho, whose father Bobby Carrancho played guard on Watsonville's '71 team. "It felt great."
