Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Jack Clancy

By Ray Hamill — It’s been a good year for McKinleyville High sports and for two seniors in particular.

On Friday night, Jack Clancy and Payton Harbin were instrumental in leading the Panthers to a first Dick Niclai Tournament championship in boys basketball since 1997, with a 60-52 overtime win over Arcata in a thrilling showdown at Lumberjack Arena.

The win ended the longest ever tournament drought for any of the eight schools to have ever won a Niclai championship, boys or girls.

That’s an achievement any player can be proud of, but Clancy’s and Harbin’s impact at Mack High go well beyond that.

The two multi-sport athletes also each played a pivotal role in the Panthers’ Little 4 championship in football a few months back, a title that ended a 32-year championship drought.

The football team was fondly known as the “12 percenters” after receiving only 12 percent of the votes in a pre-league Humboldt Sports poll asking our readers who they thought would win the Little 4.

They responded by winning their first five league games on the way to the elusive title.

Both players were key starters on both the football and basketball teams, and both rose to the occasion when it mattered most, stepping up their game down the stretch of each season to help lift their teams to success.

And the two standouts aren’t done just yet.

The Panthers will now turn their attention to the North Coast Section basketball playoffs, which tip off next week, with the seedings and brackets set to be announced on Sunday.

The Panthers are the No. 4 ranked team in NCS Division 4, according to MaxPreps, and could challenge for a first-ever section crown.

If they can manage that, then Clancy and Harbin will go down in school history as two of the most accomplished McKinleyville High male athletes ever.

After what they achieved on Friday night, and the manner in which they achieved it, it shouldn’t surprise too many people if they do.

Payton Harbin