Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The officiating crew at Wednesday’s NorCal final.

By Ray Hamill — H-DNL girls basketball wasn’t the only winner at Wednesday’s NorCal championship game.

The big all-local showdown was officiated by an all-local crew, the first time members of the Six Rivers Basketball Officials Association have overseen a game at this stage of the season since 2013.

And that wasn’t the only noteworthy thing about the selection.

Even more impressive, longtime local official Alan Mendes, who was a part of the crew, officiated the game alongside his son, Tanner Mendes, and believes that was the first time a father and son have officiated a state playoff regional game together.

Joining the father and son was Del Norte native Brandon Kakituska.

“It was huge for all of us,” said Alan Mendes, who was also a part of the last local crew to officiate a game of this magnitude back in 2013 and was making his third appearance in a regional final.

Tanner Mendes and Kakituska were officiating a regional final for the first time ever.

The crew was assigned by CIF officials Assignor Harry Schrauthafter after comprehensive evaluations over the three state playoff games they officiated together within the previous eight days at venues around Northern California.

And it’s not just the three officials who benefitted from their selection.

“Getting the assignment for the girls D-4 regional final is a huge accomplishment for our officiating crew and for the Six Rivers Basketball Officials Association, along with the H-DNL,” said Alan, a 41-year veteran of officiating games. “This assignment meant our crew were among the last 39 total officials left in the entire State of California working in the CIF state tournament. Our crew felt blessed to receive this assignment.

“This most recent regional final game is the third in my career. But what makes it the most special is officiating this regional final with my son Tanner.”

And judging by the reaction of fans, coaches and players, they did an excellent job working the game, with no real controversial calls on the night in what was a thrilling, hard-fought and highly-entertaining game between St. Bernard’s and Arcata.

And all three officials are among the most respected here on the North Coast.

Tanner Mendes just completed his fourth year officiating and was recently named the Six Rivers Basketball Officials Association Official of the Year at the association’s end of the season banquet, while Kakituska was the recipient of the award last year.

Both Alan Mendes and Kakituska also have plenty of experience officiating at the community college level.

The game itself, which was a thriller won by St. Bernard’s, was played in front of a sold-out gymnasium at College of the Redwoods and viewed as a fantastic celebration of local high school basketball, as well as being the first all-H-DNL NorCal final.

And that made it even more special for the local crew.

“The game was awesome,” Alan said. “We couldn’t ask for a better venue. When we walked on the floor we were all overwhelmed and excited. We hadn’t been in a facility that packed. It was awesome really.”

Submitted photo – The all-local officiating crew of Brandon Kakituska, Alan Mendes and Tanner Mendes

Once the game got started, however, the trio were all business and the packed house inspired them to do the best they could.

“Our goal was to make sure we gave those girls a fair contest,” Alan added. “And I think we accomplished that 100 percent. We were not a factor in that game. The girls decided it.”

The Six Rivers Basketball Officials Association is responsible for officiating more than 450 local games in a season and like many community officials associations all around the nation in just about every sport, they have struggled to maintain enough officials to accommodate the demand.

They started the season with under 30 officials and finished with approximately 40, and Alan Mendes said they are always looking to add more officials to their ranks.

Hopefully, the prestige of officiating such a high profile game will help that cause.

Anyone interested in officiating local high school basketball games in the future can contact association assignor Justin Yslas at justinyslas18@gmail.com.