Photos by Taunya Brunton – Action from St. Bernard’s win over Lassen at the Mt. Shasta tournament on Friday.

The Arcata Tigers will play for a tournament championship for the second straight weekend after beating Piner 59-46 in Friday’s late semifinal.

One week after they lost the McKinleyville tournament championship game, the Arcata boys will play Montgomery in their own tournament final on Saturday after the Vikings defeated Eureka 51-40 in the earlier semifinal.

In other Arcata tournament games on Friday, McKinleyville fell 60-58 to South Medford and Fortuna lost to Red Bluff 52-41.

In other games on Friday, St. Bernard’s defeated Lassen 64-53 at the Mt. Shasta tournament, and Hoopa got the better of Modoc 47-42 at the Trinity tournament.

At the Cloverdale tournament, Del Norte defeated Orland 76-36 and South Fork lost to Rancho Cotate 92-54.

After being challenged by their head coach Kellen Maynard to start faster in Friday’s game, the Arcata players responded and ran out to an 18-6 lead after the opening quarter on their way to their sixth win in seven games.

“It was a much better start,” Maynard said. “Our defense was much more active. We were way more aggressive.”

Dawson Vallerga led the Tigers offensively and finished with 13 points, while Luke Moxon added 12 points and Lucian Rodriguez chipped in nine points.

The Tigers continue to play short-handed with several of their players still playing football, but even with players playing out of position and some back-ups seeing a lot more playing time they continue to win.

“I’m just really proud of the guys for sticking with it,” said Maynard, who added “everybody keeps stepping up.”

Saturday’s championship game is set for 2:30 p.m.

Also at the Arcata tournament on Saturday, Fortuna plays McKinleyville at 10 a.m., South Medford plays Red Bluff at 11:30 a.m., and Eureka plays Piner at 1 p.m.

St. Bernard’s 64, Lassen 53

Lima Dyer had his best game of the new season as the Crusaders got back to winning ways with an 11-point victory over Lassen at the Mt. Shasta tournament.

The junior guard scored 35 points in the win as St. Bernard’s answered the call in a physical contest to end a two-game losing skid.

This was the Crusaders’ second win over the Grizzles, having also played them at last week’s Quincy tournament.

“It was a hard-fought win versus a physically strong Lassen team,” St. Bernard’s assistant coach Pat Shanahan said of the Grizzlies, who had some of their football players back in their lineup this time around. “Guys were crashing the boards and fighting for possession. It was a physical game and our kids responded well.”

The Crusaders had to battle back after trailing early in the game, and they were able to keep the Grizzlies at bay down the stretch.

“We got down early in the first half and responded with some runs of our own to help take back the lead,” Shanahan added. “And we didn’t let go the rest of the game.”

Carson Costa added 17 points in the win, as SB improved to 3-2.

The Crusaders will close out tournament play against Yreka in the tournament consolation game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“There is room to continue to improve, and we all understand and enjoy that part of the game,” the coach said.

Del Norte 76, Orland 36

The Del Norte boys bounced back from a tournament-opening loss at Cloverdale with an emphatic victory on Friday.

“The kids came out and played today,” head coach Cris Rice said. “Defensively we played great and I challenged my returning players to step up. We controlled the game through all four quarters. We took the ball to the basket and limited outside shooting.”

Michael Webster continued to set the tone for the Warriors and had a big all-around game, finishing with 10 points, five assists and four steals, as the team ended a two-game losing skid and improved to 5-2.

“Michael Webster has had a great tournament,” Rice added of the senior guard, who also scored 24 points in Thursday’s loss to Rancho Cotate.

Aidan Rice also had a good night and scored a team-best 16 points, while Mario Ledezma, Justin Cushman and Keenan Horton each scored eight points.

“Our leadership was outstanding tonight,” Cris Rice added. “It’s a positive and we are going to build our confidence and get ready for our next game.”

Danner Dowd added six points and seven rebounds, while Lyon Rigden scored six points and Damian Escalera dished out five assists.

Ryan O’Laughlin also played some strong defense for the Warriors.

Hoopa 47, Modoc 42

The Warriors continued to roll with their fourth straight win, as they defeated Modoc at the Trinity Holiday Classic.

Senior Lyle McKinnon exploded for 24 points in the win and added five rebounds and three steals, as the Warriors improved to 5-2.

The Hoopa boys held a slender one-point lead after a closely-fought first half, but stretched the advance to 10 after a big third quarter that saw them outscore the Braves 17-8, and they were able to hold on down the stretch.

Malakai McCoy added eight points for Hoopa, while teammate Brian Richards continued to be a force on the boards and finished with a team-high nine rebounds.

Brandon Romero added a team-best four assists and five rebounds.

The Warriors will close out tournament play against Ferndale on Saturday at 5:45 p.m.

No details of Ferndale’s tournament games were immediately available.

Rancho Cotate 92, South Fork 54

The Cubs suffered their second loss of the season and their first at the Cloverdale tournament, falling to an impressive Rancho Cotate team, which also defeated Del Norte on Thursday and is now 3-1.

“They were very physical and we weren’t as prepared for that as we thought we were,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said. “We kept our head high and will learn from this experience.”

Impressive senior Wesley Way led the way for the Cubs again and finished with a team-high 15 points, while teammate Shawn Schmidt added 13 points, including three 3-pointers.

The Cubs will close out tournament play on Saturday at noon.

South Medford 60, McKinleyville 58

After starting the season with five straight wins and a championship at their own tournament last weekend, the Panthers have now lost two straight games on back-to-back nights at the AIBT.

Henry Turner IV had a big night offensively for the 5-2 McKinleyville boys and scored a team-high 20 points.

Cole Armstrong added 15 points in the loss and teammate Nick Maher chipped in 11.

“It’s been a common theme so far that we need to find an extra gear,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. “That’s on me, our staff and the whole team to solve this issue right now.

“Until that happens we’re playing based on talent, which we have a lot of, but it isn’t enough to be a great team and close games like this go the other way.”

Davis, however, is confident the Panthers can fix those issues.

“I know our guys can do it and I’m excited to continue to work with them to get there so that we can be the team that I know we’re capable of,” he said.

Montgomery 51, Eureka 40

The Loggers suffered their first loss of the season in the semifinal of the AIBT, dropping to 4-1.

The Vikings, who also defeated McKinleyville in tournament play, made some big shots in the win and held off a late Eureka rally to advance to Saturday’s tournament championship game.

“They are a really good team,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “A lot of credit to them. They made some really big shots.

“But our guys battled the entire time.”

Will Mooney led a late Eureka charge that saw the Loggers narrow what had been a double-digit deficit with some big buckets in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings would hold on and improve to 6-1. 

Trenton Gerber led the Loggers with 14 points and had a “solid game on both sides of the ball,” according to DeHart.

“He kind of anchored our defense,” the coach added.

Sophomore Ryder Mitchell also impressed and has been a consistent presence in the paint for the Loggers through the early part of the season.

“He guarded their big and he never relented,” DeHart said.

For the second straight night, the Loggers got a boost off the bench from Jerome Lyons, who played some great defense.

The Loggers will play in the tournament third-place game on Saturday at 1 p.m.