Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Arcata Tigers have received a top seed and opening-round bye for next week’s tournament.

By Ray Hamill — Heading into the final two nights of the regular season in H-DNL basketball, there is still plenty to be decided in the race for Dick Niclai Tournament inclusion.

And the good news is that all nine league schools that play basketball are still involved.

The girls close out conference play on Thursday night.

The three Niclai spots for the Little 4 have already been decided, with conference champs St. Bernard’s guaranteed a top seed and first-round tournament bye.

Ferndale is 3-2 and one win ahead of Hoopa (2-3), and the Wildcats will be the No. 2 seed no matter what happens on the final night because they own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Warriors, having swept them in conference play.

In the Big 5, meanwhile, conference champion Arcata has wrapped up the top seed and a first-round bye, while Eureka (4-3) will receive a No. 2 seed and a home game on Monday no matter what happens on Thursday.

Del Norte (3-4) can tie the Loggers for second in the Big 5 with a win at home against Fortuna and a loss for Eureka at home against Arcata, but the Loggers swept the conference series against the Warriors and hold the tiebreaker.

However, there could be a tie for third, if Fortuna beats Del Norte on Thursday night.

That would leave both teams with identical 3-5 records and having split their two conference games, setting up a play-in game on Saturday night.

Home court for that game would be decided by a coin flip

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

In Big 5 boys basketball, meanwhile, champs McKinleyville (7-1) will be seeded No. 1 and Arcata (5-2) No. 2.

The race for the third and final Big 5 spot in next week’s tournament will go down to the final night of conference play on Friday.

Del Norte (3-4) and Eureka (3-4) both remain in the chase, with the Warriors playing at Fortuna (0-7) and Eureka traveling to Arcata.

If one team wins and the other loses, then the winner would secure a No. 3 seed, whereas if both win or if both lose then there would be a play-in game on Saturday night, with home court decided by a coin flip.

The two schools split their two conference games.

In the Little 4, the St. Bernard’s boys (7-0) clinched the championship outright with a win over South Fork on Wednesday and will be a top seed for next week’s tournament, with a semifinal matchup at College of the Redwoods on Tuesday.

The Hoopa Warriors (3-2) are guaranteed the No. 2 seed after their win at Ferndale on Wednesday, while the Wildcats (1-4) and South Fork (1-4) are tied for third going into the final night of conference play.

Ferndale and South Fork will face off in Miranda on Friday and the winner will advance to next week’s tournament, where they will open at Hoopa on Monday.