Skeen leads Warrior scorers with 15 points on five threes

Senior Scottie Skeen of Del Norte High, right, looks for a shot against Arcata at home Friday night. (The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson)

CRESCENT CITY — The Arcata Tigers are as good as advertised.

Predicted to be the team to beat in the Big 5 Conference, the Tigers took it to the Del Norte Warriors 57-40 in Crescent City Friday evening.

Coming into the game both teams were tied atop the early season Big 5 standings at 2-0.

While the Warriors were able to hang around in the first half, the Tigers went on a run in the second half, going up by as much as 27 points to break the game wide open.

Arcata used their combination of size, speed and solid basketball fundamentals to dominate the proceedings.

Softball MVP now top scorer on hoops team

Lauryn Lesina takes to the court for Tuesday night’s Del Norte High girls basketball game against Fortuna. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

After all, the senior has been a two-sport star since her freshman year. 

As a freshman Lesina received honorable mention honors in varsity basketball as a shooting guard and was named a first team White Star honoree in varsity softball as a catcher and helped the team earn the conference crown. She received White Stars in both sports as a sophomore and junior.

As a sophomore she was a key component in the Warriors winning their first ever Northcoast Section softball title. As a junior she was named the conference MVP in softball as the squad won its third straight conference title and came within one game of playing for another NCS softball title. She led the Warriors with a remarkable .477 batting average and led the team with four home runs, 24 RBIs and 26 runs.

Now she’s a a key component of a Del Norte basketball team that is having one of  its best years in awhile.

After winning only eight games last year the Warriors were 11-8 following Thursday night’s Big 5 game versus Arcata. Lesina scored a season-high 34 points against Hoopa on Jan. 4.

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Contest begins at 7:30 p.m. in Crescent City

Junior Layton O’Reilley of the Del Norte High boys varsity basketball team goes up with the ball during a home game last month. After more than a month on the road, the Warriors face Arcata at home tonight. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

The Del Norte High Warriors and the Arcata Tigers, which are both 2-0 in the Big 5, meet tonight at  7:30 p.m. in Crescent City.

While the Tigers, who are currently 15-4, were predicted to be a conference power this season and have done well in their pre-conference schedule, things were more unclear with the Warriors heading into the conference season.

Del Norte was 4-8 heading into Big 5 play, although they played a tough  pre-conference slate with elite teams from Redding, the Bay Area and Oregon.

Tonight’s game will be the first time in more than a month that the Warriors have played at home at Thunen Gym.

Del Norte head coach Scott Alexander said he believes that the squad’s 6-8 overall mark is a bit deceiving. As they have demonstrated in the past three games they are a squad that is coming together at the right time.

This incudes downing Eureka by nine last week and dominating Fortuna by 16 points Tuesday night in a game that Alexander said was the most complete Del Norte played all year. The squad also defeated Hoopa on Jan. 4 and currently are in the middle of a three game winning streak.

Down Tigers on the road 44-41

After going winless in the Big 5 Conference last season, the Del Norte High girls varsity basketball team finally earned a league win Thursday night.

Playing on the road against Arcata the Warriors won 44-41 after withstanding a late Tigers rally to improve to 11-8 for the year and 1-2 in the Big 5.

“The girls are exited,” head coach Buzz McCulloch said. “We  were up the whole game. It was a good team effort.”

For senior post player Ariana Spalding, to earn a conference win meant a lot to her and her fellow seniors. It was disappointing last year “that we couldn’t pull one off,” she said.

Del Norte went down to Fortuna Wednesday night and pulled off an impressive 50-34 win to improve to 2-0 in the Big 5 and 6-8 overall.

Three Warriors scored in double figures.  Juniors Layton O’Reilley and Nick McBride and senior Scott Skeen each had 12 points to lead a balanced Warrior attack. Senior Chris Scott finished with eight points.