Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

The Arcata Tigers came out on fire in their regular season finale in boys basketball at Eureka on Thursday night, opening up a 28-4 lead after the opening quarter.

And after that there was no way back for the Loggers, who lost the game 72-56, suffering just their second home defeat all season.

With the win, the Big 5 champion Tigers closed out conference play with a record of 8-0.

In the other Big 5 game on Thursday, the Del Norte Warriors won another close showdown with the Fortuna Huskies in Crescent City by a score of 57-55.

“We were on fire,” Arcata head coach Kellen Maynard said of his team’s opening-half performance. “We had a very aggressive and hard practice yesterday and I told the guys we’re not going to take any easy days going forward. And I thought it paid off tonight.”

The Tigers led 48-21 at halftime, but the Loggers enjoyed the better of exchanges after the break and grew into the game despite the sizable deficit they faced.

It was senior night for the Loggers and the game was played in front of a packed house at Jay Willard Gymnasium.

And it was senior Will Mooney who led the second-half charge for the home team, finishing with a game-high 30 points.

“It’s always good to see your senior finish their last home game in front of a packed house go out in fashion like Will did tonight,” Eureka head coach Jimmy Rodgers said. “I’m so proud of him and how he’s matured so much as a player and leader.”

Luke Moxon led the way for the Tigers offensively and finished with 23 points, including 11 in the opening quarter, while teammate Luke Lemke added 11 points.

“I was much happier with both Lukes,” Maynard said of the dynamic duo, who were part of a disappointing offensive performance in the team’s last game on Tuesday. “I thought they had really good bounce-back games. Not that they played poorly on Tuesday, but it wasn’t up to their standards.

“They’re really big leaders for this group and they set the tone early in the game.”

Jack Luh also had 13 points for the Tigers, but Maynard was not happy with the team’s second-half performance.

“I feel like we played extremely poor in the second half,” he said. “A lot of credit goes to Eureka. They were like a completely different team in the second half. But we were very sloppy with the basketball and very in-attentive on defense.

“The team we were in the first half is the team I know we can be.”

Maynard also praised the performance of Mooney.

“He was phenomenal,” the Arcata coach said. “We had no answer for him in the second half.”

Trenton Gerber added 11 points for the Loggers, who closed out conference play 4-4 and earn the No. 3 seed for next week’s Dick Niclai tournament, opening at McKinleyville on Monday night.

Xavier De La Rosa also had six points in the loss.

“I’m happy with the way our defense stepped up in the third and fourth quarters,” Rodgers added. “That caused a little bit of havoc for Arcata to keep it interesting, while my guys kept chipping away.”

Eric Jackson also had a good night for the visitors after getting the start in place of injured teammate Dawson Vallerga.

“Eric Jackson was great tonight,” Maynard said. “He was dialed in and ready to play.”

Afterwards Rodgers paid tribute to the league champs.

“Congratulations to Arcata and coach Maynard for running the table this year,” he said.

Up in Crescent City, meanwhile, the Del Norte Warriors secured the conference sweep over the Huskies who lost yet another close game in the Big 5.

The Warriors started strong and led for much of the night, although the Huskies pushed them all the way and there was never much in it.

I was really proud of the way our team came out in the first quarter,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “They played well and kind of maintained that.”

Lyon Rigden was instrumental in the win and finished with a game-high 24 points, while teammate Michael Webster added 12 points and Ryan O’Laughlin chipped in 10 points.

“Rigden was huge for us,” Rice said. “All of our seniors played well.”

The Warriors honored their seniors before the game, a class that includes Rigden, O’Laughlin, Webster, Aidan Rice, Danner Dowd and Mario Ledezma.

“Mario was huge for us with his energy,” Cris Rice said. “He came in and had a couple of big baskets and did a good job guarding their point guard.”

The Warriors trailed by three late in the game, but five late points from Rigden, including a key 3-pointer, as well as a late basket by Webster helped secure the win.

Jake Houseworth led the Huskies on offense and the senior finished with a team-high 17 points, while teammate Jace Barsanti added 15 points.

Bryson Gillam also impressed and had 10 points, while Hunter Reback added six points and Blayne Barrote chipped in four points.