Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Monday night’s game at Arcata High.

By Ray Hamill — The Arcata and Hoopa girls have advanced to the semifinals of this week’s Dick Niclai tournament after each won their opening games on Monday night.

The Tigers defeated McKinleyville 49-43 at Arcata High, while the Warriors traveled to Ferndale and came away with a 70-34 win over the Wildcats.

The Tigers will now face off against Little 4 No. 1 seed St. Bernard’s at College of the Redwoods on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m., while the Warriors will play Big 5 No. 1 seed Eureka earlier in the evening at 6 p.m.

Playing against their biggest rivals, the Arcata girls broke open a tight game with a big third quarter on Monday, outscoring the visitors 19-7 for the period to carry a nine-point advantage into the fourth.

The Arcata girls would stretch the gap to 16 in the fourth quarter, and that was enough of a gap to hold the Panthers at bay.

The Mack girls, to their credit, kept battling to the end and closed out the game on a 12-3 run.

Nora Talty scored a team-high 14 points in the win, as the Tigers improved to 17-6 on the season, while teammate Mae Wolford added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Mayleah Jackson also featured prominently and finished with seven points and four steals, while Tae Wolford added seven rebounds and six points.

It was the team defense, however, that paved the way to victory.

“We rotated well defensively tonight,” Arcata head coach Charlie Espinoza said. “We trapped the ball well and got steals that led to points.”

For McKinleyville, Tatum Fisher scored a game-high 15 points, while Bella Turner added 10 points.

Gabby Watson added six points for the Panthers, who dropped to 15-10, while Mia Rasmussen had five points and Syriah George had four points.

No scoring details were available for the Hoopa and Ferndale game.