Arcata and McKinleyville are an even 5-5 against one another since June of 2021, but not for long. The Arcata Tigers will look to defend their home court on Friday against the McKinleyville Panthers at 7:30 p.m. Hopefully Arcata focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up eight on Thursday.
After a string of three wins, Arcata's good fortune finally ran out. They took a 44-39 hit to the loss column at the hands of Fortuna.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Dawson Vallerga, who scored 11 points along with five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Lemke, who scored six points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, McKinleyville was able to grind out a solid victory over Fortuna on Wednesday, taking the game 58-50.
McKinleyville got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Cole Armstrong out in front who scored ten points along with six rebounds and six blocks. Another player making a difference was Flynn Creighton, who scored 17 points along with three steals.
Arcata's loss dropped their record down to 11-10. As for McKinleyville, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 16-8 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Arcata have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like McKinleyville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Arcata ended up a good deal behind McKinleyville when the teams last played on January 9th, losing 51-34. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Creighton, who scored 16 points along with six rebounds. Now that Arcata knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
