Photo by Phoebe Becker – Broc Contreras in action for the South Fork Cubs in Wednesday’s NCS playoff opener.

By Ray Hamill — Get ready for a busy weekend on the local basketball courts, with several big games on tap over the next two days.

On Friday night, College of the Redwoods will celebrate an historic conference championship while honoring a sophomore class that left its mark on the local community college program, while the Eureka Loggers will most likely say farewell to an iconic arena that has hosted its share of historic showdowns over the years.

And on Saturday, the Ferndale girls will make their highly-anticipated postseason debut, while four local teams will renew their rivalries as they battle for a place in the North Coast Section semifinals and a guaranteed spot in the NorCal tournament.

It all begins at College of the Redwoods, where the men’s team will celebrate the historic third consecutive conference championship they secured last week when they host Feather River in their regular-season finale.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will also celebrate a sophomore class that includes all-state selection Jon Nchekwube, as well as former Arcata Tigers Aidan Atkins-Salazar and Niko Zambas.

The men tip off at 5 p.m., followed by the CR women, who will be playing their final game of the season and will honor their sophomores — Kendall Stewart Rachel Valdez, Kathryce Danzuka, Has Hunsucker and Gracie Betts — before a 7 p.m. tip.

Also on Friday night, at Eureka High, the Loggers will be playing what is likely their final ever game at the iconic Jay Willard Gymnasium when they take on  St. Patrick-St. Vincent in the NCS Division-3 quarterfinals.

The Loggers, who will move into their new gymnasium next season, could yet possibly host an NCS semifinal or NorCal tournament game, but there’s a pretty good chance this will be the final game ever in the gymnasium, win or lose.

The Eureka girls are seeded No. 4 in their bracket, while St. Patrick-St. Vincent is No. 5.

The St. Bernard’s boys also be in action on Friday night, when they travel to San Francisco to play No. 1 seed Urban in the Division-5 bracket.

Photo by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Eureka girls will host St. Patrick-St. Vincent on Friday night.

The busy weekend continues on Saturday, with nine H-DN teams in action, including four playing at home.

Two big all-local games will take place here on the North Coast, with McKinleyville traveling to Del Norte and St. Bernard’s hosting Arcata, both in Division 4.

The winners will move on to the semifinals — where they will play teams from out of the area — and are guaranteed a place in this year’s NorCal playoffs, which get under way in 11 days.

St. Bernard’s is seeded No. 3, Del Norte No. 4, McKinleyville No. 5 and Arcata No. 6, and both of Saturday’s games are set for 7 p.m.

Two other local teams will also host NCS quarterfinals on Saturday.

In Division-6 boys action, the No. 3 South Fork Cubs will play No. 6 Fremont Christian, also at 7 p.m., while the Ferndale girls will host Tomales in their playoff opener after receiving a first-round bye.

Photo by Phoebe Becker – Tommy Rotbergs in action for the Cubs earlier this week.

Photo by Anna Stacy – Action from Wednesday’s game between Fortuna and Healdsburg.

The Wildcats are the top-ranked Division-6 girls team in the state and are the No. 1 seed in their NCS bracket, while Tomales is No. 9.

Rounding out a busy day of action, the Ferndale, Arcata, Fortuna and Ferndale boys will all play on the road.

The No. 8 Wildcats will play at No. 1 Cornerstone Christian in Division 6, while in Division 4, No. 5 Arcata will play at No. 4 Marin Catholic and No. 8 Fortuna will play at No. 1 University.

All three of those games are also set for 7 p.m.