Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.,com – The Panthers celebrate their historic championship on Friday night.

By Ray Hamill — The Dick Niclai Tournament champs take center stage this week after an exciting few days for both teams.

The Eureka girls and McKinleyville boys both won historic tournament championships for different reasons on Friday night, and that makes them our teams our teams of the week, an award sponsored by College of the Redwoods Athletics.

The Loggers won a third straight Niclai championship for the first time in program history, getting the better of Del Norte in the decider by a score of 43-26.

A core group of talented seniors have paved the way for the team’s success this season, and they’re not done yet, with the North Coast Section playoffs set to begin next week.

Likewise with the McKinleyville boys.

The Panthers came from behind to beat Arcata in Friday night’s Niclai championship, getting the better of a Tigers team that had swept them in league play.

McKinleyville won 60-52 in overtime, clinching a first Niclai tournament title since 1997 and just a third ever.

And the accolades don’t end there for the Mack boys.

Our Athlete of the Week is McKinleyville senior Cody Whitmer, who led the way to victory on Friday with another outstanding performance.

Whitmer has been on fire all season and that continued in the tournament championship, where he scored a game-high 23 points and was a perfect 12 for 12 at the free throw line.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Cody Whitmer

McKinleyville Basketball, Senior

Whitmer has been key to the Panthers’ success all season long and that continued this past week in the Niclai tournament.

The senior scored 50 points combined in wins over Fortuna, South Fork and Arcata to lead the Panthers to a first tournament championship since 1997.

And he did this despite playing hurt for most of the week after being forced to leave the opening game against Fortuna before returning to the lineup later in the night.

For more on Whitmer and the Panthers’ big week, see A ‘special moment’ as Mack boys end long Niclai championship drought …

TEAMS OF THE WEEK

McKinleyville Boys Basketball

The Panthers will carry plenty of momentum into next week’s North Coast Section playoffs after an inspirational win in Friday’s championship game.

Trailing by nine points late in the third quarter, the Mack boys rallied to beat their biggest rivals in overtime to claim the tournament championship in thrilling fashion.

After losing a pair of games to the Tigers in league play, several players stepped up their game on the biggest H-DN stage of all this week, including Whitmer, Jack Clancy, Payton Harbin, Jordan Brown, Cameron Hooven and freshman Bode Douglass, among others.

Coaches Cindy Semore Clancy and Tyler Pelascini also deserve a ton of credit for having their players prepared for this game and confident enough to knock off the high-flying Tigers, who had won 11 straight.

Eureka Girls Basketball

The Loggers have dominated on the North Coast all season long and that continued to be the case in Friday’s Niclai decider.

An experienced lineup pulled away from a very good Del Norte team in the third quarter and would hold on for a comfortable 17-point win.

Juniors Kaitlin Giacone and Isis Poteet have both been key contributors off the bench all season long for this team, as have a core group of senior starters that includes Claire Maples, Amaya Gee, Mariah Napoleon, Moriah Bowles and Aniah Gaither.

The coaching staff includes head coach Cliff Napoleon and assistants Romeo Steele and Jesse Genaro.

For more on their big week, see Eureka girls clinch third straight Niclai championship …