Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Arcata Tigers and McKinleyville Panthers in action earlier this season.

By Ray Hamill — With the North Coast Section basketball seedings meeting just nine days away, at least three of the 18 local varsity teams appear to be in pole position to nail down a top seed.

The Arcata boys, St. Bernard’s boys and Ferndale girls are all ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions, according to MaxPreps, while seven other H-DNL teams are currently ranked in the top eight in their divisions and could be in line for a home game to open the section playoffs.

The Wildcats are also the top-ranked Division-6 girls team in the entire state, while the St. Bernard’s boys are No. 3 in the state (Division 6) and the Arcata boys are No. 4 in the state (Division 4).

Despite their disappointing loss at home to Arcata on Wednesday, the Del Norte boys are No. 4 in the section in Division 4, while McKinleyville is No. 8, Eureka No. 13 and Fortuna No. 15, all in the same division.

The South Fork boys, who play St. Bernard’s in a true Little 4 championship game on Friday night, are also riding high in the NCS Division-6 rankings, coming in at No. 3, just two spots behind SB, with Valley Christian sandwiched in between.

In the girls rankings, Eureka is No. 6 in Division 3, while Arcata is No. 6 in Division 4, one spot ahead of No. 7 St. Bernard’s.

In the same division, Fortuna is No. 12, McKinleyville is No. 14 and Del Norte No. 17.

The South Fork girls are also No. 5 in Division 6, while Hoopa is No. 12 in Division 5.