Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Arcata’s Luke Moxon

By Ray Hamill — With conference play under way, the H-DNL boys basketball teams are building momentum towards the upcoming playoffs.

But unlike the league’s girls teams — eight of which are ranked in the top 50 in the North Coast Section, according to Maxpreps — only three of the league’s boys teams are ranked in the top 50.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t make some noise in this year’s postseason and it certainly doesn’t mean the race for this year’s B5 and L4 conferences and the Dick Niclai tournament won’t be competitive.

As expected, Arcata is the top-ranked local team in the NCS, coming in at No. 36 this week, followed by No. 40 McKinleyville and No. 44 Eureka.

Despite beating the Loggers in non-conference action on Saturday night, the St. Bernard’s Crusaders are ranked 13 spots behind their crosstown rivals at No. 57.

However, the SB boys are getting plenty of respect within the Division-6 rankings and have moved up one spot to No. 1.

The Crusaders are also the No. 2 ranked Division-6 program in all of California, trailing only Redding Christian.

They are the only local team ranked in the top 10 within their division in the state, although Hoopa remains just outside at No. 12 in Division 5.

The Warriors are also ranked No. 7 among the NCS D-5 teams, as are the Ferndale Wildcats in Division 6.

Two other league teams feature at No. 8 in their NCS divisions, including Arcata in Division 3 and McKinleyville in Division 4.

The two Big 5 frontrunners will play each other in a pivotal conference showdown at Arcata High on Friday night.

Eureka, meanwhile, is No. 9 in NCS Division 3; South Fork is No. 13 in Division 5; Del Norte is No. 15 in Division 3; and Fortuna is No. 17 in Division 4.

This week’s Humboldt Sports Power Rankings feature plenty of movement, although the Arcata boys remain at No. 1 for the third straight rankings.

After starting conference play with three straight wins, the McKinleyville boys move up one spot to No. 2, while the St. Bernard’s Crusaders are this week’s biggest movers, moving up two spots to No. 3 after their big win over Eureka.

The Loggers, meanwhile, drop two spots to No. 4, while Del Norte and Hoopa round out the top five.

BOYS POWER RANKINGS 

1 — Arcata (13-5)

The Tigers will face a big challenge on Friday night when they host No. 2 McKinleyville

2 — McKinleyville (14-6)

If the Panthers win on Friday, they’ll be No. 1 next week

3 — St. Bernard’s (11-3)

The Crusaders are looking like the team to beat in this year’s L4

4 — Eureka (12-4)

The Loggers suffered back-to-back losses last week for the first time this season

5T — Del Norte (12-7)

The Warriors lost their first three conference games, but they’ve played road games at Arcata and McKinleyville

5T — Hoopa (12-5)

The Hoopa boys got a big conference win over South Fork on Friday

Submitted photo