5 H-DNL TEAMS STILL IN HUNT FOR TITLES
Teams from South Fork, McKinleyville, Eureka, Arcata, St. Bernard's reach semis
And then there were five. Five H-DNL teams remain alive with hopes of a North Coast Section title, as we're now in the semifinals for NCS play. Three teams have punched their tickets to the CIF state playoffs, with lots of prep basketball locally.
After losses late last week for the Del Norte girls, McKinleyville
girls, Arcata boys and the South Fork girls to eliminate them from section title contention, the final five representatives for the H-DNL are the South Fork boys in Division 6, McKinleyville boys in Division 4, Eureka girls in Division 3, Arcata girls in Division 4 and St. Bernard's girls in Division 5.
Of the remaining five teams, two teams will host their semifinal games. St. Bernard's will host Cornerstone Christian on
Tuesday night with tip-off set for 7 p.m.; the No. 1 seed Crusader squad will host the championship game with a win, where they'd face the winner of the San Domenico-Mt. Diablo matchup. The Crusaders sit at 25-4 and have secured a spot in the state playoffs after advancing to the semifinals.
The other team staying in the area is South Fork. The Cubs will host Averroes High on Wednesday night. The Falcons and Cubs have already faced off twice this season, with each team winning once with the rubber match Wednesday to determine the spot in the Division 6 championship game.
Another important rubber match took place Saturday night, with the Arcata and McKinleyville boys teams squaring off for the fifth and final time of the season. In the Division 4 quarterfinals,
McKinleyville went on the road and defeated the Tigers 49-45. A big fourth quarter for the Panthers proved to be the difference. Along with the berth to the semifinals, it also clinched a 3-2 season series win over their rivals for McKinleyville.
After seeing Arcata become co-league champs on the final day of Big 5 play, having the Tigers beat them to secure a first-round bye in the Dick Niclai tournament, and then seeing Arcata win the Niclai. The Panthers answered back when they needed it most. The win also clinched a spot into the CIF state playoffs tournament, but before that, the Panthers go on the road to play the No. 1 seed Justin-Siena on Wednesday for a spot in the Division 4 title game.
The talented Eureka girls will go on the road Tuesday night for the Division 3 semifinal matchup versus Maria Carillo. The No. 3 seed Loggers have won seven straight but it'll only get tougher, with a win they'd face the winner of Marin Catholic-American Canyon for the NCS title.
The final local team still in NCS contention is the Arcata girls, which improved to 5-0 over McKinleyville this season after a quarterfinal win over the Panthers 47-39. Despite the Tigers winning all five meetings, three of those have been within ten points.
The Tigers are now 19-7 heading into their semifinal game versus St. Patrick-St. Vincent on Wednesday. Arcata fell in last year's NCS semifinal to Branson High and they'll look to avoid the same fate this season. If Arcata advances, they'd face either San Francisco University High School or Justin Siena for the section championship.
Like St. Bernard's and McKinleyville, the Arcata girls are guaranteed a spot in the CIF state playoffs regardless of the outcome of their semifinal game.