BOYS TEAM OF THE YEAR FINALISTS — Conference champs lead the way

By barstoolfanatics on March 23, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — As usual, one of the most fascinating rivalries of the season was the Arcata and McKinleyville boys, with little to separate them for much of the season.

They faced off five times, with the Panthers edging the series 3-2 thanks to a thrilling victory in the North Coast Section playoffs, but it was the Tigers who claimed a dominating victory in a must-win second league showdown that ultimately secured a share of the Big 5 crown and they also won the Dick Niclai championship.

So which of them deserves more consideration for the 2023/24 Humboldt Sports Boys Team of the Year?

I’m guessing if you ask 100 Mack fans, you’ll get an overwhelming response in favor of the Panthers, while if you ask 100 Arcata fans, you’ll get an overwhelming response in favor of the Tigers.

Or maybe neither of them deserves to be our team of the year.

Maybe that’s an award that should go to the St. Bernard’s Crusaders, who were the most consistent team here on the North Coast during the regular season and cruised to a Little 4 championship with a thoroughly dominating run through conference play.

So here then are our list of three finalists for boys team of the year.

We’ll announce our boys and girls players of the year next week, along with our boys and girls teams of the year and boys and girls coaches of the year.