Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Violla Kingsang in action for the Loggers on Thursday night.

By Ray Hamill — The Big 5 girls basketball teams closed out the regular season on Thursday, as the Eureka Loggers topped conference champs Arcata 54-47, handing the Tigers their first conference loss in two years, and the Del Norte Warriors beat Fortuna 45-40 in Crescent City to qualify for next week’s Dick Niclai Tournament.

The Arcata girls were already guaranteed a top seed and opening-round bye for the Niclai tournament, while the Loggers had already secured a No. 2 seed and a home game in Monday’s opening round.

The Eureka girls will now host Del Norte in their tournament opener, while Fortuna missed out on qualification after Thursday’s loss. We’ll have lots more on both of these games on Friday.