Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Luke Lemke in action for the Tigers at the McKinleyville torment on Thursday.

A shorthanded Arcata Tigers team rallied in the second half to beat San Lorenzo 61-49 in the opening game at the McKinleyville tournament on Thursday afternoon.

A sluggish first half left the Tigers trailing by four at halftime, but they picked it up after the interval and pulled away for their second victory in two games this season.

Also in action on Thursday, the Hoopa boys fell 86-58 to Cosumnes Oaks, also at the Mack tournament, while St. Bernard’s rolled to a comfortable 85-26 win over Maxwell at the Upper Lake tournament.

In non-tournament action, Eureka fell 66-51 at Petaluma.

At McKinleyville, Luke Lemke, Levi Sims and Eric Jackson all stepped up for Arcata, which improved to 2-0.

Lemke finished with 19 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers outscored their opponents 20-11 in the final period.

Sims added 14 points, including six in the fourth quarter, while Jackson chipped in eight points and helped carry the team early in the game.

“Eric was huge for us in the first quarter,” said head coach Kellen Maynard, who had just seven players on hand for various reasons. “He set the tone really good in the first quarter.”

Dayquan Dunn also had a productive game for Arcata and finished with 10 points while teammate Dawson Vallerga finished with eight points.

“It was a good learning experience for some of the kids,” Maynard said.

Arcata will continue tournament play against Eagle Point on Friday at 8:30 p.m.

The Hoopa boys, meanwhile, dropped to 0-3 on the season.

Brandon Romero led the warriors with 16 points in Friday’s loss, as Cosumnes Oaks opened up an 18-point lead by halftime.

Neil Moon also had a good day and finished with 13 points, while Carlos Anzora, Lyle McKinnon and Malaki McCoy each chipped in eight points.

Hoopa will continue tournament play against the McKinleyville JVs at 4 p.m. on Friday.

The McKinleyville varsity had a bye on Thursday and will open tournament play against Cosumnes Oaks on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Crusaders, meanwhile, improved to 1-0 despite playing without some key players who just finished up the football season a few days ago.

Seth Dyer scored a game-high 28 points in the win, while Carson Costa added 16 points and Liam Dyer had 14 points.

“We played well. We shot the ball pretty well,” head coach Issac Gildea said. “Seth carried the load offensively. He was tough to stop tonight.”

Luke Brunton added eight points in the win, while freshman teammate Garrett Shanahan pulled down 13 rebounds.

“As a freshman that was pretty amazing,” Gildea said. 

Wyatt Simoni added six points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

At Petaluma, meanwhile, Trenton Gerber and Elijah Estrada each scored a team-high 11 points for the Loggers, who got down early and never quite got back in the game.

Jahmil Rippy, Will Mooney and Michael Jewell each added seven points for Eureka, which dropped to 2-1.

Gerber and Jewell each played well defensively in the loss.

The Loggers will try to bounce back when they open the Mt. Diablo tournament against De Anza on Friday at 5:30 p.m.