Arcata and McKinleyville win Niclai Tournament.

The Arcata High Boys and the McKinleyville High Girls both won their respective tournament titles for the second straight year. One observation about the Panther girls team win over Eureka High. Senior Sage Romberg is the best girl basketball player I have ever seen in Humboldt County. She has weirdly keen court sense. She sees the the whole court, and is able lead players to open spots. You just can't teach what she does. And you Trina McCartney fans please refer to each players whole game. Sage can pass, rebound, shoot....she has no weakness in her game. And the other Panthers? They will win it again next year. Their bench just played solid. Lots of upside for the next few years.

On to the boys game. Ferndale was playing in their first Niclai final and seemed to have the jitters playing before a huge crowd against a huge team. They only scored 2 points in the 1st quarter. But they came back from an over 20 point deficit to challenge Arcata in the 4th quarter. Tiger player Jordan Semple is my choice for MVP this year. He makes all of his teammates better. If some D1 school passes up on this 6'6" "2" guard, shame on them. But if he does play JC ball, please let it be CR and maybe a reunion with Tim Couch and Ryan Dehart and then move on to HSU. (This is the selfish fan in me.)

The Niclai Invitational. Dick, you would be proud of the event. Great competition, great crowds and good times. See ya next year.