Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — The Arcata Tigers outscored the visiting Eureka Loggers in each of the final three quarters of Tuesday night’s boys basketball opener on the way to a 59-39 win.

The Loggers started the stronger of the two teams, but the Tigers took control with a dominating second quarter, especially on the defensive end where they held the visitors to just two points for the period.

The Arcata boys kept the momentum going after the interval, gradually pulling away for the impressive opening victory.

“Both teams haven’t played a real game in 15 months, and I just liked how hard the guys played,” Arcata head coach Dusty Scofield said. “I was just happy with the effort from the guys.”

Brandon Bento-Jackson scored a game-high 13 points in the win, as the Tigers got good contributions from several players.

The home team also did a good job pressuring the visitors, and according to Scofield, the Tigers “are trying to change how we do some things.”

Marcus Bensen added nine points for Arcata, while Shane Purcell scored eight.

Aidan Atkins also had seven points, with Alex Jioras and Mason Railsback each scoring five.

For Eureka, Caden Vance scored a team-high 12 points, with Donovan Millender scoring seven and Jackson Giacone six.

Arcata’s experience, however, was too much for the young Loggers.

“This year I like our experience,” Scofield said. “As a program, we’re just more experienced. The players know what to expect from me, and I’m learning them.”
The Tigers return a lot of players this year from a 2019/20 team that pushed Del Norte all the way in league and at the Dick Niclai Tournament.

In addition to the ever-dangerous pairing of Bento-Jackson and Railsback, players like Kai Purcell do a lot of things that don’t always show up in the statistics.

“We’ve been really happy with Kai,” Scofield said. 

Several other players bring plenty of experience to the table and will be expected to play a key role in the coming weeks, including Bensen, Aidan Atkins and Dylan Kile, among others.

“We were pretty solid last year and we really have almost everybody back,” Scofield said.

The Tigers could be the best team on the North Coast this spring and feature a nice balance of experience, talent in key positions and depth.

Next up, the Tigers play at Ferndale on Thursday and at Del Norte on Saturday.