Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Eureka’s Bella Vigil gave her team a big spark off the bench on Friday night.

By Ray Hamill — With their backs to the wall and their season essentially on the line, the Eureka Loggers outscored the Tigers 7-3 in a defensive overtime period at Arcata High on Friday night.

And that was just enough to secure a 75-71 win in a highly-entertaining game of girls basketball between these two rivals.

Senior Sophia Chalmers and junior Bella Vigil each were outstanding in the win, and both were clutch in the overtime period.

“Bella, in my opinion, was player of the game,” Eureka head coach Michael Harvey said.

The junior guard gave her team a huge spark off the bench, while the ever-reliable Chalmers was inspirational throughout.

The Loggers led by 10 early in the game, but had to rally from an 11-point deficit late in the third quarter.

Melody Bareilles and the rest of the Eureka bench had reason to smile on Friday.

Check out the overtime highlights here, including a steal by Chalmers and a wonderful assist by McKenna Beach to set up the opening basket of the period by Vigil.

Arcata’s Bella Volz-Broughton also nailed a 3-pointer to keep her team in contention, before the opportunistic Chalmers caught the Tigers defense off guard by driving quickly up court and re-establishing the lead.

Eureka’s Kellina Pratton prepares to sub back in on Friday.

For more on the dramatic win, see Loggers win overtime thriller at Arcata …