Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Arcata’s Brandon Bento-Jackson has been instrumental in his team’s success this year.

By Ray Hamill — Here we go again.

Round four of one of the best rivalries in North Coast sports will take place on Friday night, when the Arcata Tigers face off against the McKinleyville Panthers in the Dick Niclai Boys Basketball Tournament championship game at Lumberjack Arena.

The Tigers will be favorites as they look to secure a second straight Big 5 and Niclai tournament double after claiming both a year ago.

And yes, it was McKinleyville they beat in last year’s Niclai final as well.

The Panthers are also a little beat up right now, with a couple of players sidelined through injury and a couple of others playing at less than 100 percent.

But if there’s one matchup this team will be up for, it’s surely a championship game against their biggest rivals.

Round one this year went the Panthers’ way, when the clutch Cody Whitmer nailed a buzzer-beating 3 to sneak a one-point win at the Arcata tournament in December.

The loss seemed to inspire the Tigers, who responded with a dominating 22-point win over the Panthers in their first Big 5 meeting in January and followed that with a 14-point win at McKinleyville two weeks later.

The one thing all three games had in common was a fantastic atmosphere and no local basketball rivalry seems to inspire the fans more than this one.

Friday night should be the same as the Dick Niclai deciders return to Cal Poly Humboldt’s Lumberjack Arena for the first time in three years.

“I’m glad the game is back at Humboldt, and the guys are excited,” Arcata head coach Kellen Maynard said. “Obviously for us, there’s no one we’d rather play.”

Friday’s game is set for 7:30 p.m., after the girls championship game at 6 p.m.

McKinleyville’s Cody Whitmer