Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Wesley Way and the South Fork boys will host an NCS semifinal on Wednesday night.

By Ray Hamill — Now that we’ve all had a chance to catch our breath after an exciting weekend in playoff basketball we can turn our attention to what’s next for the remaining teams.

Of the 15 H-DNL teams to qualify for this year’s North Coast Section tournaments, five remain in contention for a championship.

And of those five, three are guaranteed a place in next week’s state playoffs, while another is hoping to join them.

The five remaining teams are the Eureka girls in Division 3, the Arcata girls and McKinleyville boys in Division 4, the St. Bernard’s girls in Division 5 and the South Fork boys in Division 6.

All five will play their respective NCS semifinals on either Tuesday or Wednesday, with the SB girls and South Fork boys hosting.

The Crusaders are seeded No. 1 in their bracket and will entertain No. 4 Cornerstone Christian on Tuesday night at 7.

Should they win, they will also host a weekend championship game.

The Eureka girls will also play on Tuesday night, but the No. 3 seeds in Division 3 will have to travel to Santa Rosa to play No. 2 Maria Carrillo, also on Tuesday night at 7.

The action continues on Wednesday night, with the No. 2 South Fork boys hosting No. 3 Averroes in Miranda, also at 7.

This will be the third meeting this season between the two schools, with the Cubs winning the first showdown 45-35 in a December tournament game at South Fork, and the Falcons taking a rematch on their own home court last month 54-49.

McKinleyville’s Cole Armstrong

Arcata’s Nora Talty

Also on Wednesday, the No. 4 Arcata girls will play at No. 1 St. Patrick-St. Vincent and the No. 5 McKinleyville boys play at No. 1 Justin-Siena.

Both of those games are also set for 7 p.m.

No matter what happens this week, the Arcata and St. Bernard’s girls and Mack boys are all guaranteed a place in the upcoming state tournaments, but the rules are different for Division 3 and Division 6.

The Eureka girls will need to win their semifinal to advance to the state tournament, while the South Fork boys are not eligible for the state playoffs.

According to NCS rules, any school with an enrollment of 200 or more students competing in Division 6 is not eligible for the state playoffs.

The Eureka and St. Bernard’s girls will play NCS semifinals this week.