File photo – Arcata’s Alia Prentiss

The Arcata Tigers improved to 2-0 in tournament play for the third straight week with a comfortable 53-34 win over Enterprise at the Red Bluff tournament on Friday.

On Saturday, they’re hoping to fare better than they have in either of the first two tournaments, where they placed second each time.

“It’s nice to be there, but we’d like not to be bridesmaids again,” head coach Doug Oliveira said with a chuckle.

One big difference this time around will be having Nora Talty back in the lineup.

The junior standout rejoined the team this week after missing the first few weeks and has given the Tigers an immediate boost with back-to-back strong games.

On Friday she scored a team-high 17 points, but her presence is being felt in more ways than that.

“It’s nice having Nora back because it really opens up other things for us too,” the head coach said. 

Caroline Diecker is also enjoying a good tournament and finished with eight points against Enterprise.

“Both last night and tonight, Caroline has played well defensively,” Oliveira said. “She must have had close to 20 blocked shots.”

Addison Wingate and Violet Moon each also scored six points in Friday’s win.

The Tigers had to overcome a sluggish first half and the two teams were tied 11-11 at the break.

The Arcata girls, however, outscored their opponents  42-23 over the final two quarters.

“In the second half we played better,” the head coach said. “We got after it on defense and then we were able to get some transition baskets.”

The Tigers, who improved to 7-2, will close out tournament play against University Prep on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.