File photo – The Arcata boys will play rival McKinleyville in the championship game at the McKinleyville tournament on Saturday afternoon.

The best rivalry in H-DNL basketball will take center stage at the McKinleyville tournament on Saturday afternoon.

The Arcata Tigers and McKinleyville Panthers both won their tournament semifinals on Friday and will face off in the championship game.

Both teams are unbeaten on the season.

The Panthers defeated Woodland Christian 70-44 to go to 3-0, while the Tigers got the better of West Valley 55-22 and improved to 4-0.

Saturday’s championship game is set for 4:30 p.m.

The Tigers led their semifinal by just three points at halftime, but pulled away with a dominating third quarter outscoring West Valley 25-0 for the period.

“We had really good relentless attacking of the basket, much better than we had in the first half,” Arcata head coach Kellen Maynard said. “And that allowed us to take control in the third quarter.”

Levi Sims scored a game-high 15 points in the win, while teammate Luke Moxon added nine points and Lucian Rodriguez chipped in seven points.

Tow other H-DNL teams will play each other in the championship game at the Yreka tournament.

The Loggers defeated Orland 65-59 in their tournament semifinal on Friday and improved to 2-0 on the season.

Del Norte defeated Yreka 51-45 and is now 4-0.

That championship game is also set for 4:30 p.m.

The Eureka boys enjoyed a balanced offensive performance in their semifinal win, with four players finishing in double digits in scoring.

Elijah Estrada and Will Mooney each scored 16 points while Makai Dennon had 13 points and Ryder Mitchell finished with 12 points.

Estrada and Mitchell each also had double digits in rebounds for a a double-double.

“It was a team effort across the board,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “We kind of got off to a slow start and we got into a little bit of foul trouble early in the first half, but we had a couple of guys come in and do a good job.”

Dennon and Trent Gerber, who chipped in eight points, both were forced to sit early because of foul trouble, but Owen Hiscox picked up some of the slack and impressed off the bench.

“We really limited our turnovers, which was (something we had talked about),” DeHart added. “So I was proud of our ability to make some adjustments to work through some things early in the game.”

Michael Webster led the Warriors in their semifinal win as they kept their unbeaten start to the end season going.

The senior guard scored a career-high 27 points, and helped key a big comeback from a slow start.

“The kids came out and missed a bunch of layups in the first quarter,” said Del Norte head coach Cris Rice, whose team trailed 17-4. 

However, the Warriors settled into the game and “battled back through defensive intensity,” according to the coach.

With Webster leading the way, the Del Norte boys battled back.

“The kids banded together and the energy was great in the second half,” Rice added. “I’m proud of them for battling back and finishing the game on both ends.”

The St. Bernard’s Crusaders, meanwhile, are playing at the Quincy tournament and won their tournament and season opener in a high-scoring showdown on Friday night.

St. Bernard’s beat Portola 98-92.

Two SB players finished with 37 our more points.

Carso Costa scored a team-high 42 points and added five assists for an outstanding season debut, while Liam Dyer was equally effective and finished with 37 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.

“I’m proud of our guys for finishing the game strong,” said assistant coach Pat Shanahan. “We were up early and held off some of their runs in the second half.”

Trenten Hagler also had a good night for the Crusaders and finished with 10 points and six assists, while Tyler Hinrichs added eight assists.

Portola featured 6-foot-9 junior Connor Sheridan, who caused problems throughout and finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks.

“We played tough against a special 6’9” player and Portola team,” Shanahan added. “It was a good experience for our boys to work through.

“We were all excited to play our first game and happy to come out of here with a win.”

The Crusaders will continue tournament play against Lassen on Saturday.

At Redding, meanwhile, the Fortuna boys lost for the second straight night at the Harlan Carter tournament, falling 63-56 to University Prep and dropping to 3-2 on the season.

Jack Stacy had a big game for the Huskies and finished with a team-high 21 points, including 14 in the second quarter.

Jace Barsanti added 14 points and Lolo Payne had 13 points.

Chandler Crenshaw chipped in six points for Fortuna, which continues tournament play against Shasta on Saturday.

The South Fork boys also were in action at the Redwood Classic at Anderson Valley High School and suffered their first loss of the early season, falling 64-56 to Stuart Hall in the tournament semifinals and dropping to 3-1.

“It was a very intense and well-played game,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said. “Hall are really well coached.”

Trevor Hunt had a big game for the Cubs and finished with a team-high 18 points.

“He played one of his best games,” Morrow said of the senior. “Like really under control, making the right decisions and working his butt off.”

The Knights enjoyed the better of exchange early in the game and led by 17 at halftime.

But the Cubs responded with a strong second half.

“We made a few adjustments and settled into our game and cut the deficit to six a number of times,” the South Fork coach said. “But we could not make a play to cut it any closer.

“We definitely outscored them in the second half and I’m super proud of the way we played.”

Wesley Way and Sean Schmidt each added 14 points for the Cubs.

“I think we’re really starting to understand how to play with each and how to manipulate what we do to fit different scenarios,” Morrow said. “We really showed a lot of heart and grit, the type of things you really need to give yourself a chance to win some of these high-level basketball games.”

The Cubs will try to bounce back when they play Valley Christian Academy in the third -place game on Saturday evening at 5 p.m.

The Hoopa boys were in action at the Durham tournament and bounced back from a Thursday loss to the host school by beating Anderson 61-56.

The Warriors started the stronger of the two teams and led by 10 at halftime, and they would hold on in the second half, improving to 2-2 on the season.

Brandon Romero continued his impressive start to the new season and scored a team-high 20 points in the win, while also dishing out a team-best seven assists.

Fellow senior Lyle McKinnon added 17 points and junior Malakai McCoy finished with 16 points.

McKinnon capped a good all-around performance with seven rebounds and four assists, while Brian Richards pulled down a team-high 11 boards.

The Warriors will close out tournament play against Paradise at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.