Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Arcata head coach Charlie Espinoza and his players are 6-0 in the Big 5.

By Ray Hamill — The top two teams in our rankings can both clinch at least a share of their respective conference championships on Friday night.

In the Little 4, the St. Bernard’s Crusaders will be crowned at least co-champs by beating Ferndale, which would move them two wins ahead of the second-placed Wildcats with two games remaining.

In the Big 5, meanwhile, the 6-0 Arcata Tigers have a bye on Friday night, but if the Eureka girls should lose at Del Norte they would drop to 4-2 in the Big 5, handing at least a share of the title to the Tigers.

Eureka, however, will be expected to win that game, which would set up a big final week in conference play, including a key matchup between the Loggers and the Tigers at Arcata High on the final day of the regular season next Friday night.

In the overall North Coast Section MaxPreps rankings, meanwhile, there wasn’t a whole lot of movement this week, with seven of the nine H-DNL varsity teams ranked in the top 50 out of 155 schools.

The Eureka Loggers still lead the local contingent at No. 7 overall, while Arcata moves up three spots to No. 13 and St. Bernard’s moves up one spot to No. 11, giving the league three teams in the top 11.

Next best is McKinleyville at No. 21, followed by No. 37 Del Norte, No. 40 Ferndale, No. 41 Fortuna and No. 55 Hoopa.

St. Bernard’s (Division 5) and Ferndale (Division 6) both remain No. 1 in their NCS divisions, as well as No. 3 in the state.

Eureka is No. 3 in NCS Division 3, one spot ahead of No. 4 Arcata, with Del Norte No. 10 in the same division.

In Division 4, McKinleyville is No. 7, followed by Fortuna at No. 12, while in Division 5 Hoopa is No. 5 and South Fork is No. 16.

This week’s Humboldt Sports Power Rankings remain the same as they were a week ago.

St. Bernard’s and Arcata are still tied for top spot.

The two schools are not scheduled to meet in the regular season, but local fans would love to see a matchup between the two frontrunners in the upcoming Dick Niclai tournament, especially after last year’s epic NorCal championship game showdown.

Eureka also holds steady at No. 3, followed by No. 4 McKinleyville and No. 5 Ferndale.

St. Bernard’s CJ Figas

POWER RANKINGS

1T — St. Benard’s (21-1)

The Crusaders are 6-0 against H-DNL teams this season

1T — Arcata (15-6)

The Tigers are unbeaten with six wins in the Big 5

3 — Eureka (15-3)

The Loggers will get another shot at Arcata next week

4 — McKinleyville (16-8)

The Panthers will be hoping to make some noise in the Niclai tournament  

5 — Ferndale (12-6)

The Wildcats remain No. 3 in the state in Division 6

McKinleyville’s Bailee Box