Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Arcata’s Brandon Bento-Jackson in action during Saturday’s championship game.

By Ray Hamill — The Arcata Tigers lost for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon, falling 63-45 to Lincoln in the McKinleyville tournament championship game.

Niko Zambas led the way offensively for the Arcata boys, scoring 15 points, while Kai Purcell finished with six points.

With the loss, the Tigers drop to 3-1 on the season.

Next up, the Tigers will play Red Bluff to open their own tournament on Thursday.

Eureka 72, Ukiah 52

The Loggers outscored the host team in all four quarters on the way to their first win of the young season at the Ukiah tournament on Saturday.

The 1-2 Eureka boys had six players with at least eight points, including a team-high 16 points from Jaeden Thayer.

Arcata’s Niko Zambas

Thayer and teammate Trevor Bell, who finished with eight points, each were named all-tournament.

Gary Jimenez also had a big game, finishing with 13 points, while Jackson Giacone added 12 points, Grant Barrera 10 and CJ Chaidez nine.

McKinleyville 70, South Fork 60

The Panthers also got their first win of the season at their own tournament on Saturday, coming alive in the third quarter on the way to overturning a 10-point halftime deficit.

T-Ryan Stumpf capped an impressive few days with a game-high 21 points in the win, while teammate Thomas Locatelli finished with 20 points.

Michael Boatright added eight points for the 1-2 Panthers, who outscored the Cubs 20-6 in the third quarter.

Tyler Bates and Alex Harding each had 16 points to lead a balanced team effort from the South Fork boys.

Teammate Cameron Messenger added 13 points and Oliver Tatton 10.

Arcata’s Marcus Benson

Ferndale goes 2-1 at Calistoga tournament

With many of their players just recently finishing up football, the Wildcats had just a couple of days to prepare for the Calistoga tournament, finishing 2-1 at the three-day tourney.

The Wildcats opened with back-to-back wins over Roseland (49-39) and Summerfield Waldorf (7-32), before losing 44-38 to Credo in Saturday’s championship game.

Javier Lopez and Garrett Christiansen each scored a team-high 10 points in the opener, with Cody Sampson adding 13 points against Summerfield Waldorf and Tristen Martin 11.

In the championship game, Jenner Christiansen led the way with 12 points, while Emmitt Albee finished with nine points.

Considering the lack of preparation time, it was an impressive start to the season for Ferndale.

“I thought we played pretty well,” head coach Dan Albee said. “We’ve got to sharpen up a lot of areas, but the guys worked hard.”

Fortuna 68, St. Helena 55

The Huskies closed out the St. Helena tournament with a second win in three days, knocking off the host school by 13 points.

Fernando Atilano led the way offensively for the 2-1 Fortuna boys, finishing with 16 points.