Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

Despite featuring a very new-look team this year, the Arcata Tigers showed this weekend why they might just be a serious contender in the Big 5 once again as they look to secure a fifth straight league championship.

The early season has been up and down for head coach Kellen Maynard and his players, but the Tigers are showing signs of improvement and won their opening two games at their own tournament over the past three days.

On Saturday, however, they came up short in the championship game, falling to a talented South Medford team 66-55.

With the loss, the Arcata boys dropped to 5-5.

Once again, they started fast, as they have in all three tournament games, but the visiting Panthers battled back and were the stronger of the two teams in the second half.

“We have an ability to attack opponents early. We’re very good at being aggressive early,” Maynard said. “But when the game’s not going super fast, or we’re not getting stops, we’re just struggling right now.”

Maynard says he takes responsibility for that and it’s something he needs to demand more from his players.

Two players who enjoyed big tournaments for the hosts were seniors Luke Lemke and Elias Gomez, each of whom continued to impress in Saturday’s final.

Lemke finished with a team-high 27 points, one night after he scored 35 in the semifinal against Windsor.

Gomez added 10 points, and both senior standouts were named to the all-tournament team.

“It’s not surprising what he’s doing,” Maynard said of Lemke, who was the Big 5 MVP as a sophomore. “He’s playing well, but there’s still things he can improve on.

“I thought they both had a good weekend. I thought Elias did a lot of good things too. It’s great to see his growth.”

The Tigers, however, will need to continue to grow as a team if they want to make it five straight Big 5 championships in the new year.

“We need to share the ball more,” Maynard said. “We can’t rely on one or two guys.”