Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — It took the Tigers a little while to get going on Friday night, but once they did there was no stopping them.

The Arcata girls hosted Del Norte to begin the second half of conference play and overcame some early struggles on the way to a 72-53 win.

The victory, which was the team’s seventh straight, lifted the Big 5 leaders to 5-0 in conference play and moves them two wins ahead of the second-placed Eureka Loggers, who fell 56-54 in overtime at McKinleyville, also on Friday.

Arcata’s sluggish first half was caused in large part by a gritty Del Norte team, which came to play.

“Ugly first half, but we turned it up in the second half,” Arcata head coach Charlie Espinoza said. “Kudos to (Del Norte head coach) Nick (Perez) and his staff, they had those girls ready to roll for this game.”

Senior Mae Wolford was the catalyst for the home team and helped get her teammates going with another huge performance.

Wolford had a double-double in the win, finishing with 26 points and 14 rebounds.

“Mae Wolford was our rock tonight,” Espinoza said. “She really was the calming presence in the game.

“(She) just really made me proud. I’m so lucky to be able to watch her play the game she loves.”

Mae’s twin sister Tae also impressed, but it took her a while to get going while she was battling foul trouble.

Tae finished with 17 points.

The Warriors, to their credit, gave their hosts all they could handle for much of the night and trailed by just five points midway through the third before the home team’s strong finish.

But Arcata closed out the third quarter on an 11-3 run to take control and never looked back.

The Warriors were led by sophomore Jaylee Keeling, who continues to impress and play beyond her years.

Keeling scored a team-high 19 points, while freshman teammate Josephine Antonetti also impressed and finished with 13 points.

“Jaylee played great,” Espinoza said. “(She) had us on our heels in the first half.” 

Avery Ritter chipped in nine points for the Warriors, who dropped to 2-3 in the Big 5 and 9-8 overall.

“Proud of how hard my team played tonight,” Perez said. “Second-half adjustments from the Arcata team stalled us out on offense, and that allowed for them to get going on the other side of the ball.

“We will regroup and be ready to go for the next game.”

Mia Cueto added nine points for the Tigers, who improved to 13-3 on the season, while Betty Miles chipped in seven points.

“The Arcata Tigers are such a fun game to play, no matter where or what the outcome is,” Perez added.

Next up, on Tuesday, the Tigers will try to keep their winning streak going when they host Fortuna on what will be an emotional Senior Night, while the Warriors will host McKinleyville.