POWER RANKINGS — Who is the best team in the H-DNL?

By barstoolfanatics on January 24, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – St. Bernard’s junior Laila Florvilus and her teammates have plenty to smile about this week after beating the top two teams in the Big 5 over the past few days.

By Ray Hamill — As we head toward the stretch run of the local high school basketball season, we’re finally beginning to get a clearer picture of who are the best teams in the H-DNL right now.

And pound for pound, no team has impressed more than the St. Bernard’s Crusaders, boys and girls.

The SB girls catapulted themselves to the top of any local power rankings with impressive back-to-back victories over the two Big 5 frontrunners over the past few days, knocking off Eureka on Saturday and Arcata on Tuesday night, two teams MaxPreps has ranked higher than the Crusaders.

The St. Bernard’s boys have been every bit as impressive and also knocked off two of the top three teams in the Big 5 on back-to-back weekends, beating McKinleyville and Eureka.

The Crusaders have won 10 straight games dating back to mid December and are playing like the most complete boys team in the H-DNL right now.

Interestingly, the Crusaders have won just one Dick Niclai tournament in school history — the boys in 2002 — but both the boys and girls teams could be frontrunners to take home the trophy this year.

At the very least, both St. Bernard’s teams have shown they can beat any team on the North Coast right now.

The Eureka girls also have impressed and were arguably the best team in the H-DNL for much of the season.

Saturday’s loss could motivate the Loggers if they face the Crusaders again in the upcoming Dick Niclai tournament as they inch closer to a third straight Big 5 crown.

After winning just one Niclai crown in the first 25 years of the tournament, the Loggers have claimed the past three trophies and will be eager to keep that dominance going next month.

The Arcata girls also will fancy their chances.

Aaiden Burris and the SB boys have not lost a game since mid December, including wins over two of the top three teams in the Big 5 over the past two weeks.

The Tigers have matched the Loggers almost step for step in conference play with their only Big 5 loss coming against Eureka, and they remain in contention for the championship with three games to go.

Rounding out our top five local teams are the McKinleyville boys.

The Big 5 leaders have dropped two of their last three games going into a huge showdown against Fortuna on Wednesday night, but they still hold their fate in their own hands and if they win their final three conference games the reigning Niclai champs will claim a first-ever outright B5 title and the top seed for this year’s Niclai tourney.

Here then are our Power Rankings of the top teams in the H-DNL, boys and girls combined …