Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Tuesday night’s game at Eureka High.

By Ray Hamill— Round one goes to the Arcata Tigers.

The top two teams in Big 5 girls basketball went head to head at Eureka High on Tuesday night and it was the Arcata Tigers who got the win.

And they did so in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 13-point deficit early in the second half on the way to a 52-45 victory over the three-time defending conference champs.

With the win, the Tigers take over sole possession of top spot in the conference standings with a record of 4-0 (13-6 overall), while the Loggers, who played the game without head coach Cliff Napoleon in attendance because of sickness, dropped to 3-1 and 14-3.

In the other Big 5 game on Tuesday, the Del Norte girls broke out of a four-game losing streak with a 49-42 win over Fortuna in Crescent City.

The win was the first for the Warriors in conference play and lifts them to 1-3 in the Big 5 and 12-8 overall.

Fortuna closes out the first half of conference play at 0-4 (12-9 overall.)

The Arcata girls came into this year’s Big 5 with a point to prove and they did that in emphatic fashion on Tuesday night.

But they had to fight for it.

The Loggers enjoyed the better of exchanges early on and closed out the first half with a 13-4 run to carry an eight-point lead into the interval.

It could have been worse for the Tigers had the home team shot better than 3-of-10 from the free throw line in the opening half.

Eureka senior Samara Gaither had a big first half and caused the Arcata defense problems throughout, finishing with 15 of her 17 points for the game in the first two quarters.

Gaither and the Loggers continued to add to their lead early in the third and quickly stretched the gap to 13.

After that, however, it was one way traffic as the visitors began to take control and never relented.

They would go on a 16-0 run, keyed by big 3-pointers from Jocilyn O’Donnell and Tae Wolford, before a Mae Wolford bucket gave them a lead they would not relinquish.

“We took care of business tonight,” Arcata head coach Charlie Espinoza said. “Our energy in the second half was great.”

The Loggers, who shot the ball well in the opening half, went more than eight minutes without a field goal in the second half and netted just one basket from play over the final 13 minutes of the game.

Just one point separated the two teams with three minutes remaining, but back-to-back 3s from Tae Wolford stretched the lead to seven and there was no way back for the home team after that.

Mae Wolford scored a team-high 17 points for the Tigers, including seven in the opening quarter, while her twin sister Tae added 14 points, including four 3s.

O’Donnell added eight points for Arcata and Leitala Vainuku chipped in five, including a key 3-pointer in the fourth.

It didn’t help matters for the Loggers when influential sophomore guard Olivianna Millender got in foul trouble.

“I thought Arcata did a great job putting pressure on the ball once Olivianna got in foul trouble,” Eureka assistant coach Jesse Genaro said. “Hats off to Arcata, they came out in the second half and wanted it more.”

Nashaya Williams scored 10 points and Tiara Maualuga had seven for the Loggers, who missed 15 free throws for the night.

“We had the better first half. Arcata had the better second half,” Genaro added. “We need to be better with the ball.”

The loss was just the third in the Big 5 for the Loggers in three-and-a-half years and their first in conference in almost two years to the day since falling to Del Norte on Jan 25, 2023.

The win leaves the Tigers in the driver’s seat in the race for this year’s conference championship, although they will face Eureka again in their final Big 5 game early next month.

“We are really building and growing as a team and players are stepping up,” Espinoza said. “We controlled the game and played our style.

“We have a vision as a team and we are gonna do what it takes to accomplish it. So proud of this family.”

Genaro said not having Napoleon on hand played a role.

“When you have a system, it’s hard when that’s broken,” Genaro said. “It was strange not having Cliff, as we coach very well together.”

Next up, on Thursday, Arcata hosts Del Norte and Eureka hosts McKinleyville.

Del Norte 49, Fortuna 42

Brooklyn Carter scored a game-high 19 points as the Warriors got back to winning ways with a much-needed conference victory.

“We needed that one,” Del Norte head coach Dylan Nelson said. “We had some flashes of the team we know we can be and have been earlier in the season.”

Bliss Blackburn added nine points in the win and teammate Tsinte Steinruck finished with eight points, as the Warriors kept their Dick Niclai tournament hopes alive.

The Warriors got some big contributions from their bigs, while the tenacious duo of Carter and Blackburn had some key steals and layups late in the third quarter to give their team some crucial momentum heading into the fourth.

“We were able to capitalize on some adjustments and moved the ball well in the fourth,” Nelson said. “Proud of the way the girls bounced back after a tough few weeks.”

Kalie Chittenden scored a team-high 12 points for the Huskies, while Mariah Bravo finished with 10 points.

Jorlynn Villalvazo also had seven points and Taylor Heussler chipped in six points.

The Huskies will have a bye in conference play on Thursday before hosting Arcata on Wednesday of next week, while Del Norte plays a non-conference game at St. Bernard’s on Wednesday before playing at Arcata on Thursday.