Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — The Loggers would not be denied in their biggest game of the year.

On Friday night, playing in front of a packed house and great atmosphere, the Eureka boys rallied from a six-point deficit in overtime to pull out a 73-71 win at Arcata to keep their Dick Niclai Tournament hopes alive.

The win sets up a tournament play-in game on Saturday night at Eureka High against Del Norte, which comfortably took care of business at Fortuna on Friday, winning 67-24.

Home court for the play-in game was decided by a league coin toss and tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Both Del Norte and Eureka finished tied for third in the Big 5, while the Arcata boys had already secured second and Friday’s loss does not affect their Niclai fate.

The Tigers will host the winner of Saturday’s Del Norte/Eureka game in the opening round of the tournament on Monday night.

Also on Friday night, the St. Bernard’s boys completed an undefeated run through conference with a 71-43 win at Hoopa.

At Miranda, the Ferndale Wildcats beat South Fork 64-53 to secure third place in the Little 4 and a No. 3 seed for next week’s tournament.

The Crusaders will have an opening-round bye in the Niclai tournament, while Hoopa will host Ferndale in opening-round action on Monday.

The game of the night on Friday took place at Arcata and was played in front of a packed house with both student sections bringing their “A” game every bit as much as the players.

The Eureka players seemed to know what was at stake and played as if their season depended on it.

“It was an instant classic,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “There were a lot of fans for both teams. We were so appreciative and grateful for the fans that made the trip.”

Arcata coach Kellen Maynard echoed the sentiment.

“They are the kind of games that make us want to coach and that make the kids want to play,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for a better atmosphere.”

One of the highlights of the game was getting to see two of the best players in the H-DNL — Arcata’s Luke Lemke and Eureka’s Xavier De La Rosa — face off, and both players enjoyed big nights.

De La Rosa paced the Loggers with 26 points, while teammate Owen Hiscox also was instrumental in the win and added 20 points, including six 3-pointers.

“When he’s shooting like that, we feel we are a hard team to beat,” DeHart said of the sharpshooting Hiscox.

Luke Lemke scored a game-high 35 points on Senior Night for Arcata, while teammate Jack Luh finished with 13 points and Remey Winkler added nine.

There was little to separate the two schools for much of the night, with never more than seven points between them.

Eureka started stronger and led by six after the opening quarter, but the Tigers responded with a big second quarter and held a four-point advantage at the break after a 10-2 run to close out the half.

The visitors responded with a good third quarter and led by two going into the fourth, and at that stage it appeared to be anyone’s game.

But neither team was able to take control in the fourth, with never more than three points between them, and they would go into overtime all square at 63-63.

Three-pointers by Winkler and Heron Cromwell either side of a De La Rosa basket gave the Tigers the early momentum in overtime, and a Lemke basket put them up by six.

But with their backs to the wall in a game they had to win to have a shot at qualifying for the Niclai tournament, the Loggers would respond.

A 3-pointer by Hiscox and a basket by Ryder Mitchell pulled them within one, before Eddie Gonzalez hit 2 of 3 free throws with 27 seconds remaining to give the Loggers a one-point lead.

Kyle Giacone would ice the win with another free throw in the dying seconds and the Tigers were unable to respond.

“You just don’t want to lose on Senior Night,” Maynard said. “We got a little too stagnant … and you’ve got to give Eureka credit. They had all the energy, all the effort, all the hustle plays. They just out-worked us.

“And we just didn’t play good enough complete-team basketball.”

Giacone, a sophomore, had another big game in the win, as he continues to play a pivotal role for his team.

“Kyle Giacone played his most poised basketball of the season,” DeHart said of the young player, who finished with 16 points.

Mitchell chipped in seven points.

“Perseverance I think was really the name of the game tonight,” DeHart said. “We knew from the start it was going to be a close game. There were a lot of times we felt our team could have folded, but they were relentless and they continued to play together as a group, and I think that’s the main reason we were able to pull out the win.”

Del Norte 67, Fortuna 24

The Warriors took care of business against the Huskies to keep their Niclai hopes alive.

They dominated their hosts all night in a game they had to have, and no one had a bigger say in the win than junior Sawyer Fry, who enjoyed a career night.

The Del Norte standout outscored the Huskies by nine points, finishing with a game-high 33, while teammate Damian Escalera added 15 points.

Saturday night’s showdown will be the fifth between Del Norte and Eureka this year, with the Warriors prevailing in three of the four they have already played, including a 78-70 victory over the Loggers in Crescent City last week.

“I’m super proud of the way our boys played,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said after Friday’s win. “And I think we’re firing on all cylinders right now.

“We’re excited to come play at Eureka, and we would love to beat them a fourth time.”