Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Alena Battle in action for the Loggers on Wednesday night.

By Ray Hamill — The three-time defending Big 5 champs are still in the hunt for a fourth straight championship.

On Wednesday night, the Eureka Loggers took care of business against the Fortuna Huskies to set up a championship-deciding showdown at Arcata on the final night of the regular season on Friday.

With some of her teammates out sick, including standout sophomore Tiara Maualuga, Alena Battle answered the call and helped lead her team to a 43-23 win.

The victory lifts the Loggers to 6-1 in conference play (18-3 overall) with one game remaining against the Tigers, who are 7-0 and claimed at least a share of the championship with a 48-30 win over McKinleyville on Wednesday.

“What a good game Alena Battle had,” Eureka head coach Cliff Napoleon said of the sophomore center, who finished with a game-high 12 points. “With Tiara out with sickness, she stepped right in and helped us get that win. Proud of what she did.”

The Loggers led 21-9 at halftime, but a resilient Fortuna team would fight back to narrow the deficit to seven.

However, with their championship hopes on the line, Battle and her teammates made sure of the victory.

“It’s never an easy game in the HDN, as a number of teams are ranked highly in the NCS,” Napoleon said. 

Battle wasn’t the only standout for the Eureka girls.

Nashaya Williams continued to impress and added eight points, while Olivianna Millender and Claire Gast each made some key baskets to help keep the Huskies at arm’s length in the second half, as did Madelyn Fazio.

Jorlynn Villalvazo score a team-high five points for the Huskies and also had six rebounds, while Mariah Bravo added four points and four rebounds.