Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Tinnley Pidgeon, left, and Tiara Maualuga

By Ray Hamill — Day two of the Dick Niclai tournament is in the books with big wins for the Eureka and Ferndale girls in their tourney openers on Tuesday night.

And once again, two players stood out and helped to carry their teams to victory to keep their tournament hopes alive.

At Eureka High, sophomore Tiara Maualuga was instrumental in leading the Loggers to a 44-36 win over the Panthers, while Ferndale junior Tinnley Pidgeon was the player of the game in a 65-40 win at Hoopa.

Maualuga scored a team-high 17 points and her presence was felt at both ends of the floor any time she was on the court.

The sensational sophomore enjoyed an outstanding regular season and she has carried that impressive form into the postseason.

No doubt, she’ll be a handful once again for the St. Bernard’s girls in Thursday’s tournament semifinals.

Pidgeon was equally effective for the Wildcats against their Little 4 rivals.

The junior multi-sport standout also is enjoying a big season and made her presence felt at both ends of the court in Tuesday night.

She not only scored a game-high 25 points in the win, but also set the tone in a big team defensive performance that was key to the victory.

Maualuga and Pidgeon will both be back in action on Thursday night.

Ferndale plays Arcata in the first tourney semifinal at 6 p.m., followed by Eureka and Little 4 champs St. Bernard’s at 7:30 p.m.

The boys semifinals will also take place at CR on Wednesday night.

Hoopa and Arcata meet in the first semifinal at 6 p.m., followed by McKinleyville and St. Bernard’s at 7:30.

We’ll have two more Players of the Day after Wednesday’s games.