Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Both the Arcata and McKinleyville girls teams will play at out-of-area tournaments this week.

By Ray Hamill — In addition to the two California Collegiate Athletic Association doubleheaders at Lumberjack Arena this week, most of the local prep teams will be in action at a variety of tournaments.

Most notably, four local teams will be in action at the Arcata Invitational Basketball Tournament, which gets under way on Thursday.

The Fortuna boys (5-0) have scored more than 70 points in four of their five games so far, and will try to keep their fast start to the season going when they tip off the tournament at 4:30 p.m. against Montgomery (2-2).

Also in action at the AIBT on Thursday, McKinleyville (2-2) will open against Antioch (2-2) at 6 p.m., Arcata (1-2) plays Red Bluff (2-2) at 7:30 p.m., and Eureka (0-3) plays Piner (7-0) at 9 p.m.

Gene Cotter Memorial Tournament

In Miranda, meanwhile, the South Fork Cubs will host the Gene Cotter Memorial Tournament for boys and girls, with the three-day event getting under way on Thursday.

The South Fork boys are 2-5, having lost 60-56 to Upper Lake on Tuesday.

Hoopa Valley, which is 3-1 after a strong showing at last weekend’s Redwood Classic in Anderson Valley, will also be in action in Miranda.

The Warriors bring their high-scoring offense to the tournament, having scored 82 or more points in three of their first four games.

The Ferndale boys are also off to a fast start, with three wins last week at the Upper Lake tournament, and will travel to play at the Trinity tournament this week, opening against Fort Bragg on Thursday.

The Ferndale girls are also off to an impressive 3-0 start, and will play at the St. Helena tournament this week, opening against Roseland University Prep on Thursday.

The Arcata boys will host their own tournament this week.

The Hoopa Valley girls, meanwhile, will also play at the Gene Cotter Memorial Tournament.

The Warriors are 0-5, but have played a pair of Division-I Bay Area teams, as well as Eureka and Arcata, and will be hoping to get back to winning ways against Drew (3-2) in their tourney opener.

St. Bernard’s is off to a 2-1 start after a strong showing at the Marin Academy tourney a week ago, and will be looking to carry that on at the Windsor tournament, opening against Vanden on Thursday night.

Another Little 4 team impressing early this season is South Fork, with the Cubs now 4-2.

The South Fork girls will be in action at their own tournament this week.

Big 5 schools scattered

The Big 5 schools will be scattered this week, with the five teams playing at five different out-of-area tournaments.

Eureka (4-0) will play at the Harlan Carter Tournament in Redding, opening against Shasta (1-3) on Thursday, while Del Norte, which is also off to 4-0 start, will join St. Bernard’s at the Windsor tournament, opening against Montgomery (5-0).

A young Arcata team (2-2) will be looking for some more valuable experience at the Trojan Classic in Durham, opening against Lower Lake (1-3).

Fortuna (1-2) will play El Molino (2-5) at the Healdsburg tournament, while McKinleyville (2-1) plays University Prep (2-1) at the Corning tournament, also in Redding.

In community college action, the College of the Redwoods men (0-10) play Skyline on Friday night at the Skyline Classic.

The CR women have a bye this week.