Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Eureka senior Maia Hales is introduced to the home crowd before tip off on Thursday night.

The Big 5 championship in girls basketball will come down to Tuesday’s game at Eureka High between the Loggers and Arcata Tigers.

Both teams won their games on Thursday night to remain on a collision course, with the Eureka girls topping Fortuna 67-23 at Eureka and the Tigers winning 46-33 at McKinleyville.

With their win, the Eureka girls remain alone at the top of the conference standings with a record of 6-0 and they can clinch the title outright with a victory over the Tigers next week.

The Arcata girls improved to 5-1 and remain in the hunt, with their only conference loss coming against the Loggers.

Kaitlin Giacone led the way for the Loggers in Thursday’s win and finished with a game-high 18 points, while Isis Poteet and Samara Gaither each added 11 points.

Despite the lopsided final score, the game was close early with the visitors matching the home team through the opening quarter.

The Loggers, however, began to take control in the second quarter, with the team defense holding Fortuna to just two second-quarter points.

Eureka head coach Cliff Napoleon, who admitted his team is not 40 points better than Fortuna, was expecting a battle.

“I was nervous coming into this game,” he said. “They did such a great job when we played them couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t sure how it would go.

“The first quarter was close and we led by the narrowest of margins.”

The win, however, leaves the Loggers on the verge of a third consecutive conference championship, something they hope to achieve next week.

And their offensive rebounding played a huge role in the win.

“We got multiple offensive rebounds that led to scoring opportunities and us getting to the free throw line,” Napoleon said. “We were relentless on offensive rebounding tonight.”

Freshmen Tiara Maualuga and Oliviana Millender each scored eight points in the win, as the Loggers enjoyed balanced scoring.

Mariah Bravo scored a team-high six points for the Huskies, while teammates Maleesa Miles and Kalie Chittenden each added five points.

“It was a tough game for us,” Fortuna head coach Tom Chapman said. “However, I’m proud of the team for their sportsmanship despite the outcome.”

The Loggers are now 18-4 overall, while the Huskies dropped to 0-7 in the Big 5 and 13-12 overall.