GIRLS COACH OF THE YEAR FINALISTS — H-DNL features some elite coaching

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

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Cliff Napoleon

By Ray Hamill — The quality of girls basketball teams in the H-DNL was exceptional this year and a big reason for that was the quality of coaching in the league.

In a year that saw all nine H-DNL varsity teams qualify for the North Coast Section playoffs and two reach a NorCal championship game, there was no shortage of worthy candidates for the 2023/24 Humboldt Sports Girls Coach of the Year.

But three in particular stood out.

One led his team to a state championship, another led his team to a third consecutive Big 5 and Dick Niclai tournament championship double, and the other guided his team to a NorCal championship game in his first year in charge.

St. Bernard’s Matt Tomlin, Eureka’s Cliff Napoleon and Arcata’s Charlie Espinoza all enjoyed outstanding seasons in charge of their respective teams and all three would be worthy coach of the year candidates in just about any year.

In a season that produced so many memorable moments and so much success for the H-DNL teams, these three excelled more than any other.

Each of them guided their teams to outstanding campaigns and exceeded expectations while achieving success.

All three also had an excellent staff of assistants.

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

Here then are our girls coach of the year finalists.