Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — We see a shift at the top in our final boys Power Rankings of the season.

After winning Friday night’s Dick Niclai championship game over rival Arcata, the McKinleyville boys move up one spot into a tie with the Tigers for No. 1.

The two schools, who always bring an electric atmosphere when they play each other, ended up splitting the season series.

The Panthers took an early-season matchup between the two teams, before the Tigers won both Big 5 matchups on their way to an undefeated conference campaign.

However, the Panthers had the final say on the biggest stage of all, winning Friday’s championship game 57-49 with a determined and controlled performance.

Unlike last year, it looks very unlikely that the two teams will meet again in a fifth and series deciding game in the North Coast Section playoffs, with each school likely to be included in different tournaments when the seeds and brackets are announced on Sunday.

The rest of the Power rankings remain as they have for the past several weeks.

St. Bernard’s, which lost to the Panthers in Wednesday’s Niclai semifinals at College of the redwoods, remains steady at No. 3, followed by No. 4 Eureka and No. 5 Del Norte.

All five of the schools included in our final Power Rankings of the season are expected to make the NCS postseason tournaments.

POWER RANKINGS 

1T — Arcata (20-6)

Despite Friday’s loss, the Tigers have enjoyed a great season 

1T — McKinleyville (21-8)

The Panthers saved the best for last with their big win on Friday

3 — St. Bernard’s (19-5)

The Little 4 champs are poised to make some noise in the NCS playoffs

4 — Eureka (17-10)

The Loggers will be back in action in next week’s NCS postseason

5 — Del Norte (14-11)

Despite a disappointing league campaign, the Warriors still have plenty to plays for