Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Del Norte girls celebrate their Dick Niclai tournament championship on Friday. The Warriors open the NCS playoffs at home to Gateway on Wednesday.
(UPDATED Feb. 12, with no home game for McKinleyville girls)
By Ray Hamill — Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be an action-packed and extremely busy week on the local basketball courts, with a total of 10 home North Coast Section playoff games scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Ten of those will take place on Wednesday, including three doubleheaders, giving local fans an assortment of options.
The Eureka girls get things under way on Tuesday night at home to Hercules in a Division-III showdown, and the No. 4 Loggers could host a second game on Friday night if they win.
Del Norte, St. Bernard’s and South Fork will each host a boys/girls doubleheader on Wednesday night.
The No. 1 seed St. Bernard’s girls open at home to Branson on Wednesday.
The St. Bernard’s girls are the only local team to receive a No. 1 seed.
All three doubleheaders get under way at 5:30 p.m., with the second games at 7.
The high-flying Del Norte girls are the No. 2 seed in the Division-IV bracket and could potentially host three games in the NCS.
Potential all-Big 5 matchups
In a strange coincidence, both Del Norte teams could end up playing both Fortuna teams in the second round next weekend, if all four can navigate their opening round games.
In such a case, the Fortuna boys and Del Norte girls would host.
The potential boys showdown would be a rematch of Friday night’s Dick Niclai championship and a fourth meeting between the two Big 5 rivals this winter.
Head coach Tony McCLure and the McKinleyville girls were scheduled to play a home playoff game against Saint Mary’s on Wednesday, but the visiting team was forced to forfeit.
The Fortuna boys open at home against Fort Bragg on Wednesday, while the Del Norte girls host Gateway.
Both McKinleyville teams, on the other hand, face very daunting second-round tasks at the top-seeded schools in their respective brackets.
The Mack boys open on the road against Lick-Wilmerding in San Francisco. If they win, they will travel to Ross three days later to play Branson, the No. 1 Division-IV team in the state.
The Mack girls, meanwhile, were scheduled to play Saint Mary’s at home in their opener, but the visitors were forced to forfeit.
For more on that, see Disappointment for Mack girls as home game taken away …
They will now travel to play at St. Patrick/St. Vincent, the No. 2 Division-IV team in the state on Saturday.
Three other local teams to make the NCS — the Fortuna girls and Arcata and McKinleyville boys — will open on the road.
The Hoopa boys open at home, playing Urban on Wednesday night.
The Ferndale girls, seeded No. 6 in Division VI, also open at home on Wednesday night, against Potter Valley.
Categories: Arcata, Basketball, Del Norte, Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, Hoopa Valley, McKinleyville, South Fork, St. Bernard's
Mack girls will actually get a first round bye, as St. Mary’s was removed from the tournament after errors were found by NCS on its paperwork. St. Mary’s did not qualify for the playoffs.
Hmm, those NCS idiots scheduled a game before processing paperwork…
… they didn’t process crap because obviously if they come back later saying there were errors then they didn’t do their job processing the paperwork correctly and the punishment goes on a high school basketball team because adults in Marin County have their heads up their buttholes