Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Del Norte Warriors and Eureka Loggers faced off at the Arcata tournament on Friday afternoon.

By Ray Hamill — Big 5 rivals Del Norte and Eureka faced off for the second time in seven days at the Arcata tournament on Friday afternoon, and for the second time in seven days the Warriors prevailed.

But they had to battle and overcome a late Eureka rally on the way to a 55-50 win.

Both schools dropped their tournament openers on Thursday to set up the all-local showdown, and it was the Warriors who came out ready to go.

“We knew Eureka was going to have a lot of energy coming out, and we wanted to match that intensity,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “I think our kids have really grown this past week.”

The Eureka coaches believe their players will learn from Friday’s loss, which was the team’s third straight.

“Even after a few losses, our guys have remained very level-headed and are solution-oriented,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “We know that the learning we are doing right now will pay dividends for us as we progress throughout the season.”

With limited players back from last year’s senior-heavy team, this year’s Warriors do not feature a lot of experience.

But there’s plenty of talent on the roster, with several players stepping up from last year’s successful JV team.

And that talent is steadily coming together, as the Warriors look to build some momentum ahead of league play in the new year.

“We’re still learning, we’re still working on the mental aspect of the game,” Rice said.

Judging by the fourth quarter of Friday’s game, the players are heeding those lessons.

Del Norte led 42-25 after three quarters, but had to withstand a late rally by the Loggers, who cut the deficit to six on an Owen Hiscox 3-pointer with a little under two minutes remaining.

But the Warriors would hold their nerve late and withstood the late onslaught to secure a confidence-boosting win for such a young team.

Del Norte’s Damian Escalera finished with a team-high 16 points in the win, although he shot just 4 of 15 from the floor, while making three 3-pointers and all five of his free throws.

Markus Parras had a good all-around game for Del Norte and added 12 points, six assists and five steals, while Sawyer Fry had 12 points, five rebounds and four steals.

Justin Cushmann added seven points and sophomore Ty Blue chipped in six points in his first start at the varsity level.

“I really feel Ty Blue is important for us, and he played really well,” said Rice, whose team improved to 5-2.

The Warriors made just six of 23 attempts from downtown.

“We didn’t shoot outstanding from (3-point range), but we weathered the storm and had some timely shots,” Rice said. “Our kids played well, they played physical.”

Eureka was led by juniors Xavier De La Rosa Alcantara, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Ryder Mitchell, who recorded a double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Hiscox added eight points, as Eureka dropped to 4-3.

“A lot of credit needs to go to Del Norte. Their coaching staff is putting their guys in great spots and their players over there are executing at a high level,” DeHart said. “The story of the game was the second and third quarters, where I felt they got out in transition on us and forced us into taking some tough shots.

“Xavier is demonstrating his versatility, giving us production on the offensive end, rebounding the ball well, and he played some excellent on-ball defense against a dangerous Del Norte group.”

Mitchell also impressed his coaches as he continues to establish himself as one of the more dangerous all-around players in the H-DNL right now.

“Ryder Mitchell is a true leader who is willing to do what the team needs and it shows through his gritty play each game,” DeHart said. “We’re also really proud of senior Dom Hardcastle, who is as coachable as they come and has flashed great play.

“He had some plays tonight that gave our team life when we needed a spark.”

A basket at the buzzer would cut the final deficit to five.

Eureka will close out tournament play against Fortuna on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

Del Norte will play Red Bluff at 11:30 a.m. in the consolation game.