Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

Before Friday night’s Big 5 home opener for the Tigers, head coach Charlie Espinoza challenged the Arcata students and community to showcase their support for the team.

In two road games last week, at Del Norte and Fortuna, the Arcata coach was impressed with how the home fans had helped energize their teams and was hoping to see some of the same for the Tigers.

Espinoza was not disappointed.

The Arcata fans showed up in big numbers to support their team, in particular the students, and his players seemed to feed off of that, rolling to a 61-23 victory over McKinleyville.

“Great game today,” Espinoza said afterwards. “That’s what happens when we play our brand of basketball. Our student section was lively and it was a fun way to start home games during league.”

Just as important, the win lifts the defending conference champs to 3-0 in the Big 5 (10-3 overall) and keeps them in a tie with Eureka atop the standings, with the two schools set to close out the first half of conference play with a huge showdown at Arcata High on Wednesday.

The Wolford sisters were once again instrumental in the win.

Tae Wolford finished with a game-high 19 points, to go with seven steals and four rebounds, while her twin sister Mae added 14 points, five steals and four boards.

“The Wolford twins are a force out there,” McKinleyville head coach Alisha Hunter said. “They fully understand the assignment. They found holes in our defense quickly.”

They also impressed on defense, leading a strong Arcata performance on that side of the ball as the Tigers held their biggest rivals to just one point in the second quarter and quickly took control.

The outcome was never in doubt after that.

The Wolfords, however, were far from the only standouts on an Arcata team that has dominated its first three conference opponents, outscoring Del Norte, Fortuna and McKinleyville by a combined 83 points.

Anevay “The Baby Rattlesnake” Gruetzmacher added 12 points in the win, while teammate Izzy Allen had a big night on the glass and finished with seven rebounds.

Syriah George also impressed in her first start of the season and chipped in six points.

George, according to her coach, “looked great” and was “so solid throughout the game.”

A young McKinleyville team that features multiple freshmen and sophomores, was led by sophomore Lily Battilocchi, who had another strong game and finished with 12 rebounds and six points.

“Wish we could have capitalized on her ability tonight,” Hunter said. 

Freshman Cabella Carper added six points, while sophomore Olivia Murphy finished with five points and six rebounds.

The Tigers forced 28 turnovers.

“Hats off to their aggressive defense,” Hunter said.

With the loss, the Panthers dropped to 0-4 in the Big 5 and 10-9 overall.

Arcata boys head coach Kellen Maynard showcased his support for the Arcata girls team as part of the student section on Friday night.