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By Ray Hamill — One of the best basketball players to come out of the H-DNL in recent years will return to the North Coast this weekend, as the Chico State Wildcats open conference play at Cal Poly Humboldt on Saturday afternoon.

Former Big 5 MVP Jadence Clifton of Del Norte will lead the Wildcats into action at Lumberjack Arena, a venue she knows well after spending her freshman college year playing for the Jacks.

Saturday’s game is set for 3 p.m.

The Wildcats come into the game with an overall record of 4-1, and Clifton has played a key role in her team’s impressive start to the new campaign.

The 2021 Del Norte graduate has started all five games for Chico in her second season with the team.

After a difficult freshman season at Cal Poly Humboldt, Clifton transferred to Academy of Art for personal reasons.

She transferred again to Chico before her junior season and immediately found a home with the Wildcats.

This season the senior guard is averaging 8.4 points and 3.4 rebounds a game, each of which is fourth best on the team.

And she is seeing plenty of court time in her final college season, averaging 25 minutes a game, third most on the team.

She also has been one of Chico’s most dangerous shooters from downtown with eight 3-points so far, which is the second most on the team.

Last season, Clifton was clearly pumped to return to Lumberjack Arena, where she played in front of a large group of Del Norte fans, who traveled south for the game to support their former MVP.

Clifton scored a season-high 12 points as the Wildcats won that game 77-59.

A large contingent of Warriors fans are expected to be on hand again on Saturday.

The Cal Poly women, meanwhile, have struggled early in the season and come into their conference opener with a record of 1-4, having dropped two straight games.

The game will be played as part of a doubleheader with the Humboldt and Chico mens teams, who also will be playing their conference openers.

The men’s game gets under way at 5 p.m.

Humboldt is 3-1 on the season, while Chico is 3-2.