Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Carly Carmesin in action for Ferndale during a recent game.

By Ray Hamill — Several H-DNL teams are riding high in the North Coast Section rankings this week, including a few that feature among the top teams in the entire state within their divisions.

No one more so than the Ferndale girls, who are the No. 1 Division-6 team both in the NCS and California, according to MaxPreps.

The high-flying Wildcats are the defending section champions in their bracket and appear well-equipped for another deep playoff run in 2023.

A bigger challenge, in fact, could be trying to retain their Little 4 championship.

They have a key upcoming game on Thursday at St. Bernard’s, with the Crusaders also featuring among the top teams in both the NCS and state within Division 4.

After posting impressive wins over Big 5 teams on back-to-back weekends, the SB girls have jumped to No. 2 in the NCS in their bracket and are now No. 5 in California.

The H-DNL features heavily near the top in Division 4 in both the section and state rankings.

McKinleyville, which lost to St. Bernard’s on Saturday, is one spot behind the Crusaders at No. 3 in the NCS and No. 6 in California, with Del Norte one spot further back in both.

All three of those local D-4 teams, however, will have their hands full in the section playoffs matching up against Piedmont.

The 15-0 Highlanders are not only the top-ranked Division-4 team in both the NCS and state, but they are the only unbeaten team in the entire NCS and ranked No. 1 overall out of 146 teams.

Even more impressively, they are currently ranked No. 5 overall in the state.

The Eureka girls, meanwhile, are the highest ranked local team in the section — boys or girls — at No. 13 and they are currently ranked No. 5 in Division 3.

The Arcata boys are ranked No. 6 in Division 4, according to MaxPreps.

The Arcata girls are ranked No. 9 in Division 4 in the NCS, with Fortuna No. 13, while South Fork is No. 11 in Division 6 and Hoopa is No. 12 in Division 5.

On the boys side, McKinleyville remains the top-ranked H-DNL team despite a big loss to Arcata last week.

The Panthers are No. 4 in Division 4 (No. 37 overall), followed by the Tigers, who are No. 6 in the same bracket and No. 48 overall.

Fortuna is next best at No. 8 in D4 and No. 54 overall.

Also in Division 4, Eureka is No. 15 and Del Norte one spot further back despite a recent win over the Loggers.

Among the Little 4 teams, South Fork is No. 6 in Division 6 with Ferndale No. 12 in the same bracket, while in Division 5, St. Bernard’s is No. 13 and Hoopa No. 20.