Submitted photo – The Eureka players and coaches celebrate their big win on Saturday.

Saturday was a good one for the Eureka Loggers.

Seventy years after the program won the very first Yreka tournament, the Loggers did it again, defeating Big 5 rival Del Norte in the championship game by a score of 55-36.

Will Mooney had a huge few days in tournament play and was named the tournament MVP, while teammates Trenton Gerber and Elijah Estrada were named to the all-tournament team.

With Mooney in foul trouble for much of Saturday’s game, some of his teammates stepped up, most notably Gerber and sophomore Ryder Mitchell

The young Mitchell looks set for a big season as he continues to play a key role for the team early I’m the campaign.

“Ryder Mitchell really stepped up offensively and on the boards,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “He’s a sophomore but he’s playing beyond his years.”

DeHart also praised the young player’s basketball IQ.

“He gave our offense a spark,” the coach added.

Gerber, meanwhile, had to guard Del Norte standout Michael Webster, who was coming off a career performance in Friday’s semifinal.

“We gave Trenton that task and he played phenomenally on the defensive end,” DeHart said. “And it was just good all-around defense.

“I feel the difference for us was our defensive intensity.”

Estrada scored a team-high 17 points in the win, while Mitchell added 12 points and Gerber finished with 10 points.

With the win, the Loggers improved to 3-0 on the season.

The Warriors dropped to 4-1.

Next up, they open the Arcata tournament on Thursday against South Medford.

South Fork 90, Valley Christian Academy 69

The South Fork boys quickly bounced back from a tough loss on Friday with a big win over Valley Christian Academy in the third-place game at the Redwood Classic tournament.

Zakunda Fansler led the high-scoring Cubs with a team-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers.

Trevor Hunt and Wesley Way, who were each named to the all-tournament team, also impressed in the win.

Hunt capped an impressive few days in tournament play with 17 points, while the ever-dangerous Way added 14 points.

“Both played super consistent the whole tournament long and were just great senior leaders for us,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said. 

Martin Naverrette and Shawn Schmidt each had 11 points.

Valley Christian featured a unique style that saw them sub five players every minute, which resulted in a chaotic and up and down game, according to Morrow.

But it didn’t bother the Cubs.

“It fit our style very well,” the coach added.

The South Fork players settled into the game after having some problems with their opponents press.

“Even though we had a hard time handling their pressure in the second half, we really settled down and pressed our advantage,” Morrow said. “I am really having a great time coaching this team.

“They’re so coachable and have great energy and every game is very fun.”

Next up, the 4-1 Cubs will play at Rio Lindo on Tuesday night.

St. Bernard’s 70, Lassen 45

The Crusaders won their first game of the day on Saturday and their second of the season with a better performance than in Friday’s high-scoring season opener.

Liam Dyer scored 22 points in the win, while Garrett Shanahan added 20 points and Thien Dang finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

“Our second game of the season was an improvement from the first,” assistant coach Pat Shanahan said. “More guys got in and we got a better feel for who we are now and what type of team we want to be.”

Tyler Hinrichs added eight rebounds in the win, as the Crusaders overcame some adversity with some early-season injuries.

“With key injuries to a couple of our guys, others had to step up,” said the coach, who added “Lassen is a tough team and our guys responded well to their aggressiveness and relentless rebounding.”

Redding Christian 63, St. Bernard’s 56

The Crusaders suffered their first loss of the new season in the championship game of the Quincy tournament on Saturday night, falling to Redding Christian.

After defeating Lassen in tournament play earlier in the day, the Crusaders took the court a second time for what was a tightly-contested game against the Lions.

Liam Dyer continued to impress and finished with a team-high 20 points in the loss, while Garrett Shanahan finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

“Both teams went to their strengths and they just made a few more plays than we did,” St. Bernard’s assistant coach Pat Shanahan said. “I’m proud of our boys’ effort. We played hard and made adjustments as we needed to.”

Carson Costa also had a good opening weekend for the team and chipped in 11 points in Saturday’s game.

“Sometimes we learn more about ourselves after a loss and we’ll take this as an opportunity to get better,” Pat Shanahan added.

Hoopa 55, Paradise 48

The Warriors made it two straight wins at the Durham tournament and improved to 3-2 on the young season,

After opening tournament play with a loss to the host school on Thursday, the Warriors reposted with victories over Anderson on Friday and Paradise on Saturday.

They started strong in Saturday’s game and led by 13 points after the opening quarter, but the Bobcats would come storming back in the second quarter and tied things up at 23-23 going into halftime.

The Hoopa played rediscovered their offense in the second half and out-scored Paradise in each of the third and fourth quarters.

Brandon Romero again led the way for the Warriors on the offensive end and finished with a team-high 13 points, to go with nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

Lyle McKinnon added 10 points and a team-high six assists, and Ish E-kor chipped in six points.

Hoopa’s Brian Richards was a force on the boards again and pulled down eight rebounds.

Other games

In other games on Saturday, McKinleyville defeated Arcata 61-45 in the championship game of the McKinleyville tournament.

No details were immediately available for either team., but we’ll have more on the Panthers’ big win early next week.

The Fortuna Huskies also were in action on Saturday and fell 50-48 to Shasta.