Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Head coach Jimmy Rodgers has his players playing their best team basketball of the year at the right time.

By Ray Hamill — Anyone planning on attending Thursday’s NorCal quarterfinal at Eureka High’s Jay Willard Gymnasium might want to get there early.

The Eureka boys are enjoying one of their greatest postseasons ever and certainly their most successful, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down.

On Tuesday, just three days after clinching the program’s first-ever North Coast Section championship, the Loggers took care of business in their state playoff opener, beating Fortune Early College 75-67 in the opening round of the NorCal Division-5 bracket.

That sets up a quarterfinal showdown against Weed, a game the No. 5 seeded Loggers will host after the No. 13 Cougars upset the odds at No. 4 Argonaut 55-53 in their NorCal opener, also on Tuesday.

This will be the fifth home game in six playoff matchups for Eureka, all of which the Loggers have won.

And that’s good news for Eureka fans and the local community, with a large crowd showing up on Tuesday, and another expected to follow on Thursday.

It’s something the players and coaches have fed off.

“We’re so appreciative of the community support, and it really made a difference, especially in a game like that,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said after Tuesday’s win. “The energy we got from the fans really helped propel us and helped us get the win.”

The Eureka fans, including a large and enthusiastic student section, are feeding off the team as well, creating a wonderful atmosphere.

Weed is also a team the Loggers know they can beat, having done so in the third-place game at the Enterprise Tournament on New Year’s Eve by a score of 45-37.

The Cougars also have lost games against Hoopa (55-42), St. Bernard’s (72-61) and Fortuna (65-53), all schools the Loggers have beaten this year.

But season records will only count for so much at this stage, and both teams will fancy their chances on Thursday night.

The Cougars have been hot down the stretch of the season, winning 10 of their last 12 games dating back to mid January.

One of those losses came in the recent Northern Section Division-5 championship game, when they fell 63-55 to Trinity despite being the top seed in the bracket.

Weed is 20-11 on the season, while Eureka is now 19-12 and the last remaining H-DNL boys team in the playoffs.

The Loggers have been somewhat fortunate with their postseason seedings and brackets, earning a No. 2 seed in NCS Division 5 after — and in large part because of — a Dick Niclai Tournament play-in loss to Del Norte.

Had they won that game and reached the Niclai semifinals, as Del Norte did, then they might have bumped up to the Division-4 bracket and received a far less favorable seed.

But, as they say, fortune favors the bold, and the Loggers deserve everything they’ve accomplished while playing their best ball of the year at an opportune time.

They have won their five playoff games by an average of almost 12 points, scoring 67 or more points in four of them.

More importantly, head coach Jimmy Rodgers and his staff have their players ready to go every night, and it’s no coincidence that they have started well in all five games, setting the tone from the opening tip.

This is a team playing great team basketball right now and a group of players that are clearly enjoying their historic postseason run, as well as each other’s success.

If they continue to play that way on Thursday, there’s every reason to expect this remarkable postseason to continue with a weekend semifinal.

Tip off is set for 7 p.m.