Submitted photo – The Miranda eighth graders celebrate their championship in Crescent City.

The Miranda Mustangs eighth graders capped a big season for basketball in Southern Humboldt at the Crescent City Jaycees tournament this past weekend.

Following South Fork High’s memorable Little 4 championship win last month, the Miranda eighth graders were crowned Division B champions at the big season-ending tournament.

The Mustangs defeated Hydesville 45-26 in the championship game and won all three of their games by double digits with some strong performances at both ends of the court.

“It was pretty balanced,” head coach Jeff Lambert said of his team’s performances. “We played good defense and we got out and we were able to run the floor.”

Martin Navarette had a big tournament for the team and was named MVP of the B Division.

The lone seventh grader on the roster was a force defensively all weekend, as were teammates John Stafslien and Shawn Schmidt.

The Miranda boys also defeated Weed 56-39 in their tournament opener, before getting the better of Happy Camp by a score of 45-33 in the semifinal.

And according to the coach, Weed and Hydesville in particular challenged his players.

“We had to battle to beat them,” he said.

The Miranda team also included Brian Rodriguez, Chris Torres, Orion Bullock, Travis Way, Ricky Allatorre, Kieran Lambert and Gavin Gellman.

“It was a good group of kids,” Jeff Lambert said. “Our kids are coming off a tough couple of years and this was their first organized basketball since 2020.”

And the coach believes the future of South Fork High basketball will be in good hands as these plays make the leap to high school next year.

“This eighth-grade class has got a lot of talent,” he said. “And I expect when they are seniors they’ll be as good as the seniors in high school were this year.”