Clifton, Del Norte down Eureka
Fortuna remains on top of Big 5 standings after win at Mack
Jadence Clifton scored 31 points and hauled in 10 rebounds and the Del Norte High girls basketball team kept its bid for back-to-back Big 5 Conference championships alive with a 60-39 road-win over Eureka, Thursday night at Jay Willard Gymnasium.
“You have to show up every night in the Big 5,” Clifton said. “Anyone can beat anyone is the league. We have a few games left here, we’ll see what happens.”
Del Norte (11-8, 2-3) took an 11-6 lead midway through the first quarter after consecutive 3-pointers by Olivia Stilwell.
Eureka (16-6, 3-2) put together a brief 6-0 run behind a couple of buckets from Malia Guilbert to take a 1211 lead late in the opening frame, but Del Norte’s leading scorer on the year Jadence Clifton knocked down a pair of free-throws late in the period to send Del Norte into the second with a 15-14 lead.
Clifton opened the second quarter with another pair of free-throws. And then the junior got hot. Clifton connected on back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second and the Warriors got rolling from there, outscoring Eureka 19-8 in the second frame before taking a 34-22 lead into the break.
Clifton closed out the half with one of the best individual efforts you’ll see in the Humboldt-Del Norte League. The three-year varsity player went coast-tocoast, splitting her way through all five Loggers defenders before getting to the rim for two of her game-high 31 points.
In all five conference games this season Clifton has finished with a doubledouble in points and rebounds.
Selene Ledezma got going for the Warriors in the second half, sparking the visiting team’s offense with a muchneed bucket after Del Norte failed to score for the first four minutes of the third quarter — a stretch which Eureka used to get within six points,
34-28, of Del Norte. The senior scored 10 of her 12 points in the final two quarters.
“(Ledezma) had a breakout game tonight,” Clifton said. “She’s been building a lot of confidence with her hook shot and that’s a big weapon when its working. I thought she put us over the edge tonight.”
After Eureka’s run to open the third Del Norte outscored the Loggers 8-2 to close out the quarter and head into the fourth with its 12-point halftime lead still intact.
The final frame was all Del Norte as the visitors out-paced Eureka 18-9 over the final eight minutes.
With three conference games remaining Del Norte is now two games back of conference leader Fortuna (18-2, 4-1) and a half-game behind third-place Arcata (10-9, 2-2). The top three teams in the conference qualify for the postseason Dick Niclai H-DNL Tournament, which the Warriors won last season.
Scoring recap
Del Norte: Clifton 31pts, Ledezma 12pts, Stilwell 6pts.
Eureka: Guilbert 14pts, Sophia Chalmers 9pts, Kellina Pratton 5pts.
Elsewhere in the Big 5
McKenzie Emmons scored 14 points and the Fortuna High girls basketball team — thanks to Eureka’s loss — re-assumed sole possession of first-place in the Big 5 with a 42-35 win over McKinleyville at McKinleyville High.
A defensively stout first half by both clubs saw Fortuna take a slim 13-12 advantage into the break.
Emmons, who converted a pair of 3-pointers in the first half, connected on another two in the second half and scored eight points to help beat the Panthers. The first two games between Fortuna and McKinleyville this season were each decided by eight points.
Fortuna’s Charlotte Carroll was held scoreless in the first half but came alive in the second, scoring all 12 of her points during the final two frames.
Ray Tripp led McKinleyville (6-13, 1-4) with 10 points. Fortuna will look to remain atop the Big 5 when it plays at Eureka on Tuesday while McKinleyville will look to make up some ground on Tuesday when it plays at Arcata.