By Ray Hamill — Things didn’t go quite as planned for the Fortuna boys basketball team at the weekend Harlan Carter tournament in Redding, but playing some tough competition should only help the Huskies going forward.

Injuries didn’t help matters either, and the Huskies played without two of their most influential players, Jake Houseworth and Cage Collins.

The Fortuna boys opened tournament play in a 63-56 loss to Division 3 Foothill, before falling 63-56 to University Prep and then closing out with a narrow 50-48 loss to Shasta.

“Am I disappointed to go 0-3? Yes, but we played some team’s that are going to make us better down the road,” said head coach Norm Sotomayor, whose team is now 3-3 on the season. 

Jace Barsanti scored a team-high 16 points against Shasta, while junior Jack Stacy, who is enjoying a very good start to his varsity career, had a strong all-around game and finished with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Owen Wallen also had seven points and Chandler Crenshaw chipped in six points and three assists.

Sotomayor and the Huskies will now turn their attention to this week’s Arcata tournament, which tips off on Thursday, and they open in the late game against Piner, with the action getting under way at 9 p.m.

And the head coach is hoping for a positive response from his players.

“I’m looking forward to the AIBT,” the coach said. “It’s not going to get any easier and we’re going to have to play some tough competition.

“One of our goals this season is to go at least 2-1 at every tournament. We didn’t do that last week, but our goal is go at least 2-1 this week.”

If the Huskies win their tournament opener, they could meet league rival Arcata in Friday’s semifinals, if the Tigers also can also beat Red Bluff in their opener on Thursday.

While Houseworth will be held out at least one more week, Sotomayor is hoping to have Collins back for the Piner game after the junior standout returned to practice on Tuesday.

Hoouseworth, who recently committed to play football for Cal after graduation next year, is one of three team leaders in particular that Sotomayor believes will play a big role for the Huskies this winter.

“Once he’s back on the court, he’s definitely going to be a leader on the court,” the coach said. “Right now he’s a leader on the sideline for us.”

Barsanti and Stacy also are expected to lead the way for their teammates this season.

“Jace has put in a whole lot of time in the offseason to improve his game,” Sotomayor said of the point guard, before adding of Barsanti, “I expect him to do great things this year. He’s lightning quick, he has a great attitude and he’s very coachable.”

The return of Houseworth and Collins will also give a small Huskies team some necessary height.

“We’re not very big especially without Jake and Cage,” said Sotomayor, who played without a single player above six feet this past weekend. “We’re small, but scrappy. And they share the ball very well, they move the ball very well and they attack downhill, and defensively we’re very aggressive.”