Ray Hamill/HukmboldtSports.com – Last year’s McKinleyville team.

By Ray Hamill — McKinleyville head coach Cindy Semore Clancy is expecting to see some quality teams at this week’s annual Panthers boys basketball tournament, which tips off on Thursday afternoon.

The eight-team bracket will feature four local teams, along with four from out-of-the-area, and will run through Saturday.

“I expect some tough competition,” the head coach said. “I think it’s probably one of the tougher tournaments on the North Coast. We’ve got a pretty strong field coming in.”

In addition to the Panthers, the tournament will also feature defending Big 5 champion Arcata, along with Eureka and Hoopa.

All four local programs will open on Thursday against out-of-area teams.

Arcata gets things started at 4 p.m. against Cardinal Newman, followed by Eureka and Lincoln at 5:30, McKinleyville and San Lorenzo at 7 and Hoopa and Eagle Point at 8:30.

The Panthers are 1-0 after a weekend 60-51 win over Kelseyville, although this early in the season they are still tinkering with the starting lineup and trying to establish their offense.

“Our intensity is good, but we still have a long ways to go to make our offensive schemes flow,” said Semore Clancy. “I’m happy with the effort and intensity.”

Preparation for the season hasn’t been helped by the fact a number of players have missed practice time because of sickness.
As for this weekend, the second-year head coach is hoping to see her team continue to build.

“We want to continue to develop and get a better understanding of our offensive schemes,” she said.

This year’s McKinleyville team features a core group of four seniors who will be expected to play a key role, including Jack Clancy, Cody Whitmer, Cameron Hooven and Payton Harbin

The Arcata Tigers are also off to a 1-0 start after getting the better of Hoopa 84-28 in their opener on Saturday.

The Loggers will be playing their season opener against Lincoln.

The tournament will also feature a slam dunk contest and 3-point competition before the games on Friday.