POLL CLOSED By Ray Hamill — Last season was one for the ages for H-DNL girls basketball and early indications are that this year could be every bit as exciting.
Particularly in the Big 5.
The conference tips off next week, with a pair of games on both Tuesday and Thursday nights and all five teams will carry impressive winning records into their openers.
In fact, as of Friday afternoon the five schools are a combined 52-17 this season and all of them are ranked in the top 28 out of 137 teams in the North Coast Section, according to MaxPreps.
Defending conference champion Eureka leads the way at No. 9, followed by No. 15 McKinleyville, No. 20 Del Norte, No. 22 Arcata and No. 28 Fortuna.
And all five schools will like their chances at making some noise in conference play and qualifying for this year’s Dick Niclai tournament at the very least.
So who do Humboldt Sports readers believe will win this year’s championship?
Will it be the high-flying Loggers, who have been unstoppable in conference play in recent years and are the three-time defending champions?
Or will it be the Panthers, who have established a consistently competitive program under the guidance of head coach Jacob Cheek in recent years, or a surging Del Norte team that has looked well up to the challenge in recent weeks?
Or will it be an Arcata team that might be extra motivated this season after coming so close to winning a state championship nine months ago, or a Fortuna team that has looked as strong as any of its league rivals through December?
The action gets under way on Tuesday night when Arcata travels to Crescent City to play Del Norte and Eureka plays at McKinleyville.
The Huskies will open their league campaign on Thursday when they play at Arcata, while McKinleyville plays at Del Norte on the same night.
Let us know who you think will win this year’s Big 5 in our readers poll and we’ll publish the results before the Big 5 tips off next week.
Readers can vote up to once a day.
Categories: Arcata, Basketball, Del Norte, Eureka, Fortuna, McKinleyville
