Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Eureka’s Isis Poteet

By Ray Hamill — The two big questions for local fans as we get set to tip off league play in girls basketball this week is can anyone stop the Loggers in the Big 5 and who is the real favorite in the Little 4?

The Eureka girls have been the most impressive local team through December on the way to posting an 11-4 record and doing so against some quality competition.

With lopsided wins already over McKinleyville and Fortuna, the Loggers will be a challenge for the rest of the field.

But they’re not the only H-DNL team to impress early in the campaign, with six of the nine programs ranked in the top-38 in the North Coast Section, according to MaxPreps.

The Panthers (10-3) are just three spots back of Eureka at No. 19, while the Del Norte Warriors (11-3) are at No. 22, and both of those teams appear much improved from last year.

The Arcata Tigers are 8-5 and also should be in the mix, as they always seem to be under longtime local coach Doug Oliveira.

The Arcata girls open at home to Fortuna (7-8) on Tuesday night, while McKinleyville plays at Del Norte.

The action continues on Thursday, with Eureka opening at Del Norte in what should be an early key game for both of those teams, and Mack playing at Fortuna.

The Little 4, meanwhile, tips off on Wednesday night when Ferndale (11-2) plays at Hoopa (3-7), while on Thursday St. Bernard’s (10-2) plays at South Fork (3-5).

The Wildcats are the defending champions and will carry plenty of momentum into league play after an outstanding December.

Submitted photo – The Ferndale girls are defending Little 4 champions.

And they will be hard to stop, playing a brand of team ball as well as any program in the H-DNL.

The Crusaders have been equally impressive through the early season and are ranked six spots ahead of the Cats in the NCS at No. 29.

The Hoopa girls will also like their chances to upset the odds in league play.

The Warriors have just three wins but have played a very challenging December schedule that included six games against Big 5 teams.

Head coach Floyd “Cowboy” Billings believes that challenging schedule will benefit his players when they begin league play.

We’ll know more about the legitimacy of their challenge after the opening eight days, with the Warriors’ first two games against Ferndale (home) on Wednesday and St. Bernard’s (away) on Jan. 12.

St. Bernard’s Aliyah Vigil