Why is the NCAA Tournament the finest competition in the world of sports? I'll answer with another question: Where else to you get goosebumps over a team you're watching for the first time?
The first goosebumps of the 2008 edition of March Madness came at around noon Friday, and they came in the annual 12-beats-5 game (actually, the first of two 12-beats-5's).
Continue reading "Go Hilltoppers! and other NCAA thoughts" »
After the Fortuna and McKinleyville girls dispatched St. Bernard's and Hoopa, respectively, on Thursday night, the last four teams standing in the 2008 Dick Niclai Tournament are the same four teams that top the Big 5 standings — the Lady Huskies and Panthers, and the Del Norte and Arcata boys.
(Eureka fans, you can save your breath trying to argue that your boys finished second and got to host the Niclai opener. The Tigers beat you twice — make that three times now — and any tiebreaker system that doesn't reward that is ludicrous.)
Yesterday's Coast League double-elimination hoop's tourney was a fun event to observe ... I was impressed by the volunteer referees who were quite consistent, making good hand-check, traveling and hacking calls, but letting the kids play ... at least two teams had cores of 3-4 guys who could score and make smart passes....for games with 15-minutes (running clock) halves, teams put up some points and generally looked better on offense than on defense ... as I sat in the stands the parents' comments were just like what you might hear at Big 5 or Little 4 game ... John Calkins and Americorps did a great job BBQ-ing the burgers for so many people on the outdoor grill on a very windy day ... by the way, the title game between Zoe Barnum and Six Rivers Charter, which was to be Friday at Zoe, has been postponed until after their vacation week.
Before we begin, yes, I used the word "cross-town" incorrectly when describing Eureka and Arcata, sorry folks, that's what happens when humans write stories, mistakes happen.
Now back to the topic at hand ...
Wow, now that was what I call a quality first round of prep hoops action on Monday night.
While many fans filling the Jay Willard Gymnasium in Eureka on Monday night were telling their friends and other fans that the Arcata vs. Eureka contest in the first round of the 2008 H-DN Dick Niclai Basketball Tournament was the place to be, that wasn't quite true folks.
Continue reading "Can't wait to see the rest of the Niclai" »
OK, so after my last two blogs about three overtime games, tonight at Ferndale, with St. Bernard's ahead 48-46 with 33 seconds left, well, yes, the OT thought did enter my mind ... but the Crusaders wrapped it up in regulation.
It's the final week of the regular season, so with crunch time here, there are still some big impact games (for example, Fortuna at Mack girls, Del Norte at Eureka boys) ... the Little 4 boys' title is currently undecided (Hoopa Valley has 3 games left) ... other teams are jockeying for position into the Niclai tournament ... and others are playing for self-respect and pride ... it's a hectic yet fun time to be a sports reporter.
In last week's blog ("Two too hot hoops games"), I referred to Arcata's 58-56 OT home win over Eureka (rematch: this Tuesday, the 29th), and St. Bernard's last-second 53-52 win at Hoopa Valley. Well, since that blog, I've seen four more North Coast nail-biters. Fortuna's 63-60 road win over Mack came down to multiple Panther 3-point attempts in the final seconds. In South Fork's home win over Hoopa the two teams were tied with 42 seconds left. McKinleyville beat Del Norte at home in a thrilling 63-58 double-OT. Eureka's edged Fortuna in an exciting 49-48 OT win before the noisy Husky faithful. (For more perspective about the tightly-packed Big 5 race, check out sports editor Erik Fraser's article in the Sunday, 27th edition.) Considering that I sometimes don't know my assignment until game day, holy moly guacamole, I have been bitten three times by overtime fever in as many weeks. No wonder that my sports-writing colleagues at The Times-Standard were calling me "O.T. Tarpey" and "Mr. Overtime."
Ferndale's Jake Morris (22) and St. Bernard's Andrew Ayers were
inseparable on Friday night.
(Erik Fraser/The Times-Standard)
Nearly lost in the drama of Friday's fight between St. Bernard's and Ferndale for league supremacy was an intriguing game within the game — the one-on-one battle between the two teams' stars: the Crusaders' Andrew Ayers and the Wildcats' Jake Morris. It was a captivating individual matchup in a game that lived up to its billing and leaves the teams tied for the Little 4 lead.
"They're great opponents to watch against each other," said St. Bernard's coach Steve Thrap. "A good battle between two good players, kids who want to win."
Continue reading "The game within the game: Morris vs. Ayers" »
In the past week, two of the high school hoops games that I have covered involved overtime or last-second heroics. By now (unless you're not a prep basketball fan or you have been out of town — in either case, thanks for checking out this blog) you've read or heard about Arcata's 58-56 OT win over Eureka last Friday, Jan. 11. Even though many people have focused on the high drama of the 4th quarter or OT, I found it to be a thrilling game from the beginning, with guys on both teams besides A & B (Allen & Bianco) stepping up to make great individual efforts. And up in Hoopa Valley on Tuesday, Jan.15, the women Warriors were up by seven in the final minutes but started turning over the ball while St. B's kept hitting their shots. Still, it was stunning when Redner's off-balance turnaround shot in the paint won the game 53-52. On my way back to the coast I was thankful that highways 96 and 299 were clear and dry with not much valley fog, so I could think about my story while I was driving. Two weeks ago it was rainy, windy and cold on my evening trip back and forth to the Valley, and I really had to pay attention to the road.
After watching four of the five Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 Conference girls basketball teams Saturday night, this much is clear.
There's no clear cut favorite to claim the top spot in the league.
All four -- Arcata, Eureka, Fortuna and McKinleyville -- showcased the talent and skill to knock each other off on any given night.
Continue reading "Girls Big 5 basketball conference appears to be wide open" »
So we're putting the pages to bed right now after another day full of December Delirium around the North Coast, and I thought I would share a few thoughts from what I saw night.
You won't see my byline in the paper on Saturday, but that was because I was running around taking pictures at the Logger Classic and the Crusader Christmas Classic. As such, I got to see parts of three games. I started out at Jay Willard Gym, watching the Arcata and Analy boys in an all-Tiger battle.
At first, the word "battle" didn't seem like the right way to describe it, as Analy took it to Arcata early and led 17-1 after a quarter. That's not a misprint, I didn't forget to type a second number in Arcata's score. They had one point, a free throw by Kalani Robles. Arcata seemed to have no answer for Analy's two big men, 6-foot-6 Henry Gill and 6-foot-10 Ryan Wheeler.
Will Greg Allen play for Eureka in their own tourney? .... the Loggers have lost 4 of their 5 starters from the 2006-07 team, so they really need Allen to score ... should be a great one up at Mack with the Panthers, undefeated Fortuna and Arcata (5-1) showing off how strong they are before Big 5 season gets underway ... what about Del Norte's Robyn Suzuki saving the game by blocking (she is only 4-foot-10) a Ferndale 3-pt. attempt on Tuesday ... a game that had legendary Ferndale football coach Kim Jorgensen (in his role as the school's A.D.) keeping the shot clock ... Kellen Maynard is Wildcats new head coach—I think he'll be a good one ...