Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Eureka girls are ranked No. 7 in the NCS out of 152 teams.

By Ray Hamill — With several H-DNL basketball teams riding high in the North Coast Section and state rankings, the league could be in store for a big year in the upcoming playoffs, which tip off next month.

Particularly the girls teams.

In fact, four of the nine league girls teams are currently ranked in the top 24 out of 152 teams in the NCS.

Even more impressively, seven of the league teams are ranked in the top 16 in the state in their divisions, and all nine are ranked in the top 33.

Leading the way are the Eureka girls, who are ranked No. 2 in NCS Division 3, seventh overall in the NCS and 16th in all of California in their division.

The Arcata girls have been almost as impressive.

The high-flying Tigers are enjoying an outstanding season under first-year head coach Charlie Espinoza, who has his young squad ranked No. 2 in NCS Division 4, 12th overall in the NCS and third in California.

Little 4 leaders St. Bernard’s have the highest ranking of any local team.

The Crusaders, who have won seven straight games and 11 of their last 12, are the top-ranked NCS team in Division 5 and No. 2 in the state, and they are the third-highest local team overall in the NCS at No. 17.

The H-DNL has four teams ranked in the top 10 in NCS Division 4.

In addition to the No. 2 Tigers, Del Norte is No. 6, McKinleyville is No. 7 and Fortuna is No. 10.

Del Norte is also No. 13 in the state in Division 4, with McKinleyville just two spots back.

The Hoopa girls are also riding high in the rankings.

The Warriors are No. 7 in NCS Division 5, one spot ahead of Ferndale, and Hoopa is No. 9 in all of California, four spots ahead of No. 13 Ferndale.

Submitted photo – The St. Bernard’s girls are ranked No. 1 in NCS Division 5 and No. 2 in all of California.

The South Fork girls, meanwhile, are ranked No. 6 in NCS Division 6 and No. 22 in the state.

That means all nine H-DNL girls teams are currently ranked in the top 10 in their NCS divisions, including eight in the top eight, which could mean a lot of home games in the opening round of the NCS playoffs.

The H-DNL boys are not quite as highly ranked, but five feature in the top seven in their NCS divisions, led by South Fork, which is No. 2 in Division 6.

St. Bernard’s is No. 3 in Division 5, while McKinleyville is No. 4 in Division 4, followed by No. 5 Fortuna and No. 7 Arcata’s in the same division.

St. Bernard’s is also the highest ranked H-DNL boys team overall in the NCS, coming in at No. 35, followed by No. 40 Mack, No. 45 Fortuna and No. 51 Arcata.

In the state rankings, South Fork leads the way for the local teams and is No. 2 in Division 6, while St. Bernard’s is No. 4 in Division 5.

It should be a fun postseason for the local contingent of teams.