Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] The local high school basketball season is building momentum as a busy December of tournament action begins to wind down with league play now just a couple of weeks away. Hello and welcome to this week's KMUD News Sports Report. I'm Ray Hamill with Humboldt sports.com we'll have updates on all of the latest high school basketball action in just a moment as we take a look at all of the big local sports stories of the week, including all the latest college basketball news and news of where two HDL senior student athletes are taking their talents after graduation in 2020.
[00:00:32] But first up, it was another busy week of local high school basketball and a good one for three HTNL boys teams in particular, St. Bernards, South Fork and Del Norte all won their respective tournaments over the weekend. The South Fork boys hosted their annual Gene Cotter Memorial Tournament and took the championship with a 5948 win over Willits in Saturday's championship game. The Cubs won all three of their tournament games and were led by senior Sean Smith who has begun the new season in style. Schmidt had a career night in a 7466 win over Upper Lake in his team's opening tournament game, finishing with 37 points and 15 rebounds and he was named Tournament MVP for his excellent play at both ends of the floor. Fellow senior Travis Way was also named to the all Tournament team for the Cubs for his stellar defensive play all weekend. The Cubs, who also defeated Laytonville in non tournament action last week, have have now won four straight games and are 8 and 7. It's been a nice turnaround for the team after some early struggles that saw them drop their opening four games of the season. The St. Bernards boys also continued to impress last weekend, winning all three of their games on the way to clinching the Kelseyville tournament, including a 5936 win over the host school in the championship game on Saturday.
[00:01:47] The Crusaders, who are now ranked number 11 in the North coast section, have won six straight games and back to back tournament championships, having also placed first at the Mount Shasta Tournament the previous weekend. Liam Dyer and Garrett Shanahan both had big games in Saturday's final. Dyer had a double double, finishing with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while Shanahan added 16 rebounds and eight points. The Crusaders are now 8 1. The Del Norte boys, meanwhile, made it three weekend tournament championships for the HDNL boys by winning all three of their games at the Anderson Tournament and taking that tournament championship for the third straight year. The warriors have been one of the hottest Big Five teams through the early season and have won six straight games to go to 10 2, including a 5041 win over Reading Christian in Saturday's tournament final. Also in action last week, The Arcata boys went 12 at the Red Bluff tournament, closing out with a 6553 win over Eagle Point in their final game. The Tigers are now 67 on the season. The Fortuna boys were at the Motherlode Madness tournament at argonaut High and went 12 in their three tournament games, including losses to Union Mine and Liberty Ranch with a victory over Weed sandwiched in between. The huskies are now 4 and 10 and rounding out a busy weekend for the HTNL boys, the McKinnieville Panthers went 21 at the Frank Wells Classic at Albany High School with victories over Skyline and San Lorenzo and a loss to Teralinda. That loss was just the third of the season for the Panthers, who are now 9 and 3. Several local girls teams were also in action last weekend, including a strong showing by the St. Bernard's Crusaders who who won the Kelseyville tournament after losing tournament finals in each of the previous two weekends. It was a case of third times the charm for the SB girls who defeated the host school 6735 in their final and improved to 7 3. Sophomore point guard Carly Baum was named tournament MVP for the champs who defeated Little Four rival Ferndale 6340 in Friday night's semifinal. The Wildcats would bounce back to finish third, beating Middletown 5953 the following day. The Ferndale girls, who are battling some early season injuries, are now 8 2. The McKinnieville girls were also in action at that tournament and went 21 bouncing back from an opening loss to Ferndale with back to back wins over Casa Grande and Clear Lake. The panthers are now 8 and 4. The Arcata girls were in action at the Round Robin Justin Siena Tournament and won two of three games, defeating both Pinole Valley and James Logan before closing out with a 64:53 loss to the host school. Arcata. Pinole Valley and Justin sienna each finished 2:1 in tournament play. The South Fork girls were in action at their own Jean Connor Memorial Tournament, falling to Laytonville, Point arena and Willits and dropping to 1:12. The Hoopa girls also travelled to Miranda for the Gene Cotter Tournament and won two of their three games, defeating Willits and Point arena with a loss to Upper Lake sandwiched in between. The warriors closed out tournament play with a 7924 win over Point arena, scoring a season high in points and improving to 59 and rounding out a busy for The HTNL girls Fortuna played at the Red Bluff Tournament and won two of three games, opening with a loss to Enterprise before beating Corning and West Valley and improving to 8 and 3, while the Eureka girls played three non tournament road games, beating Annalee before losing to both Maria Carrillo and American Canyon and dropping to 8 and 4. Some of the HDNL schools will take a break from tournament play over Christmas, although several will be back in action at various tournaments over the weekend. League play begins early in the new year in local college basketball. Meanwhile, all four Humboldt county teams were in action this past week. The Cal Poly Humboldt women won a pair of road conference games at Cal State San Marcos and Cal State Monterey Bay to go to 40 in conference and 64 overall, while the Cal Poly Humboldt men split, losing to San Marcos and beating Monterey to go to two two in conference and four and six overall. The College of the Redwoods men were in action at the Kris Kringle Tournament in Santa Rosa and won their semifinal against Cuesta 8164 before losing to Santa Rosa in the final 101 to 81 and dropping to 10 7. The Sierra Women played a non tournament game at Cosumnes river on Friday and lost 74 to 44 to drop to 6 and 7. And rounding out a busy week for local sports, a pair of HCL seniors announced last week where they will be continuing their athletic careers after graduation in 2026 while signing their letters of intent to in front of teammates and family. McKinleyville's Grace Pimentel is staying local and will play women's soccer at College of the Redwoods while St. Bernard's Alyssa Boham will compete in track and field at Oregon Tech. And that's this week's KMWOOD News Sports Report. Until next time, I'm Ray Hamill with Humboldt sports dot com.
