The Del Norte High Warriors boys varsity basketball team may have been down but they were far from out Wednesday night.

Trailing by as much as 11 points in the fourth quarter, the Warriors went on a tear in the final four minutes against the Eureka Loggers to pull off the 54-45 win in the squad’s Big 5 Conference opener.

“We battled in the fourth,” Warrior head coach Scott Alexander said, adding that while the team had its share of struggles they came together when it mattered the most.

“ I feel that all of a sudden we started to play defense and we started to make our shots” Alexander said. “Before you knew it we were back in the game.”

It was a true team effort that brought the Warriors back from the brink of a loss.

In the fourth quarter, down by 11 points with a little more than four minute remaining, junior Nick McBride drained a three-pointer, and a short time later senior Scottie Skeen nailed another three to reduce the lead to 41-36.

Soon another three-pointer by McBride got the lead down to 43-41. Later,  senior Zach Heglemeyer stole the ball and passed to Skeen, who made the bucket to tie the game up at 43 apiece with around 2:30 remaining in the contest.

Senior Paula Rhodes of the Del Norte High girls varsity basketball team goes down the court against Eureka on Tuesday night. The Warriors lost to the Loggers 59-37 to drop to 10-7 overall and 0-1 in the Big 5. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Coming into the contest the Warriors brought one of their best pre-conference records in several years at 10-6 into Big 5 play.

The hope coming into the game was to grab a win after going winless in the Big 5 last season.

Earning a Big 5 victory will now have to wait at least another game as Del Norte fell at home to the Eureka Loggers 59-37.

“I don’t think the girls were ready,”  Warrior head coach Buzz McCulloch said. “I thought they were going to be. They were pumped up at the last few practices. We just didn’t come out with much energy.”

In the first half Eureka took control, taking advantage of Warrior turnovers and Del Norte struggling to get back on defense to take a convincing 39-15 lead at the half.

Del Norte turned the ball over 16 times in the first half  and had 24 turnovers for the game.

“That was a key,” McCulloch said. “They just outhustled us.”

In the second half it was more of the same as Del Norte took the 22 point home loss. Eureka improved to 10-4 while the Warriors fell to 10-7.

Lauryn Lesina led Warrior scorers with 16 points while Lexie Nelson had eight points

Paula Rhodes had four points while Kristyn Rook scored three points. Casey Walch, Angela McQuillen and Ariana Spalding each had two points. Nikki Powell led Logger scorers with 18 points.

Although the Del Norte  High Warriors have had their share of struggles this season, head coach Scott Alexander has hope things can turn around in Big 5 Conference play.

Tonight, the 4-8 Warriors take on the 4-9 Eureka Loggers on the road.

“I feel optimistic going in,” Alexander said. “The guys are excited to start ... Our goal is to always try to win league. That’s any team’s goal. We’ve just got to keep on working.”

While the Warriors’ record going into the Big 5 might not be ideal, Alexander said the schedule has been very difficult.

This included games against elite teams such as Enterprise and Pinole Valley.

Although Alexander believes there were games the team should have won, such as  when they gave up a six point lead with around three minutes remaining in a loss against West Valley, he believes the tough schedule will only help them.

For the first time in several years the Del Norte High girls varsity basketball team will bring a winning record into Big 5 Conference play.

Tonight, the 10-6 Warriors face the 9-4 Eureka Loggers at home.

After winning a total of eight games and going winless in the Big 5 last season, Warrior head coach Buzz McCulloch likes  his team’s chances of playing in the postseason this year.

“The girls are  playing well,” McCulloch said. “This group works hard in practice. Everyone buys into what we’re doing.”

McCulloch said the Big 5 will again be quite tough this season, with every team coming in with a winning record. Fortuna is 13-1, McKinleyville 12-2 and Arcata 8-7.

McCulloch hopes that facing good competition before the conference season has prepared the Warriors for the challenges that await in the Big 5. Accomplishments have included winning a tournament in Mount Shasta last month.

“We just have to build on what we have done,” he said. “This is when it counts. We’re just taking it one game at a time.”

Del Norte is coming off a 1-2 performance at the Enterprise Tournament in Redding.

On Saturday, in the third place game, the Warriors lost 46-43 to Foothill of Palo Cedro, which is located near Redding.

Del Norte was in control for almost the entire game but relinquished the lead with less than a minute remaining.

McCulloch said he was pleased with the team’s performance, but little things, such as fatigue and injury, factored into losing the game.

This included losing starting  senior point guard Katy Suzuki to an apparent sprained ankle near the end of the first half. She is not expected to play tonight but should return to the lineup soon, McCulloch said

“It kind of hurt us a little bit,” he said, explaining that losing their starting point guard hurt the Warriors’ rhythm as the game went on against Foothill.

Del Norte was led by senior Lauryn Lesina with 19 points. Junior Casey Walch and senior Lexie Nelson each had six points, while Suzuki and senior Paula Rhodes each finished with five points. Junior Kristyn Rook had two points.

Tonight’s home game will be only the second of the season for Del Norte.

The varsity game begins at 7:30 p.m. at Thunen Gym with the freshman game starting at 4:30 p.m. and the junior varsity game starting at 6 p.m.

The Del Norte High wrestling squad had two grapplers place at the elite Nor Cal Tournament in Anderson on Friday and Saturday.

The event featured 50 teams and gave the Warriors tough competition before the Humboldt-Del Norte Confe­rence season begins on Wedn­esday, assistant coach Clinton Schaad said.

Junior Jordan Lacy at 119 and senior Kai Lemrise at 189 both came in eighth place.

Schaad said two other wrestlers — Ivan Puente at 215 and Shane Endemano at 135 — came close to placing but lost in their respective eighth-place matches.

Considering that three starters were unable to compete because of injury and illness, and a few starters from the start of the season are no longer with the team, Schaad was pleased with how the squad performed.

This included Puente, who is the backup at 215 to starter Barrick Sala, who was out with a rib injury.

Schaad commended Puente and the other backups and newcomers for coming in and wrestling well in such a tough tournament.

On Wednesday, Del Norte hosts the first of only two home dual meets this season when they face Fortuna in the conference opener. The matches are set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Thunen Gym at the high school.

The Warriors are seeking their third straight HDNC title this season. Schaad said the entire team is pumped up to finally begin conference matches and to defend their crown.

He hopes that a decent crowd will come out to cheer  the grapplers on.

“The kids really appreciate it,” Schaad said.

The Del Norte High girls basketball team handily defeated Oroville High 39-21 at the Enterprise Tournament in Redding on Thursday night.

With a score of 29-7 at halftime, Coach Buzz Mc­Culloch was able to rest his starters.

“We were pounding them,” McCulloch said. “We could have buried these guys and won by 30 or 40 points, but I played other girls so everybody got a chance to play,” McCulloch said.

Lauryn Lesina scored 18 points; Lexie Nelson added 5; Casey Walsh and Katy Suzuki contributed 4 points each.

Today the Warriors will play either Enterprise or Liberty Christian in the second game of three at the tournament.

With a 10-4 record Mc­Culloch feels great about how the Warriors’ season is going, he said, but he expects the challenges to mount as Del Norte enters league play next week, beginning with a home against Eureka on Tuesday.

“We’re in a tournament and we want to win, but we’ve really got to focus on next week because the Big 5 is going to be tough this year,” McCulloch said.

Shooting 76 percent from the free throw line, the Warriors beat Hoopa 60-40.

“We’re so pumped,” said head coach Buzz McCulloch. “The girls played great defense and made 13 of 17 free throw shots.”

Warrior Lauryn Lesina led the game with 34 points, shooting five three-pointers.

“Lauryn made 11 of 13 from the free point line,” said McCullcoch.

Lexie Nelson and Katy Suzuki also contibuted heavily to the Warriors’ win, Nelson scored 12 and Suzuki made a crucial six points.

“That was our highest scoring game this year,” McCulloch said. “The highest before this was 56 points.”

Del Norte beat Hoopa 50 to 46, only taking the lead late in the fourth quarter.

Hoopa came out shooting early and  led by as much as 9 points in the first half.

Despite struggling with shooting and moving the ball in the first half, Del Norte rallied in the second quarter and managed to keep Hoopa to a 23-21 lead at half time.

In the second half Del Norte started pressuring Hoopa, and tied the game 33-33 with 1:28 left in the third quarter.

Del Norte seemed to suddenly come alive as the the fourth quarter began and started dominating the floor, but it wasn’t until the last two minutes of the game that they took the lead and kept it for good.

In the last 58 seconds of play, Del Norte lead 49-46, and Hoopa started fouling, but it was to no avail, and the Del Norte Warriors took home a 50-46 victory making them four and eight.

“We did okay,” said assistant coach Clinton Schaad. “But we were down six kids, so we had six forfeits each team we wrestled.”

The tournament had a dual meet format, meaning Del Norte squared off one-on-one against several other teams.

“We started each match down 36 points,” Schaad said, referring to forfeits from being shorthanded. “If it wasn’t for all the forfeits, we would probably have been in the top two.”

Schaad was still proud of the team members that did make the tournament.

“We still tied the top team that won it,” Schaad said. “Everybody that was there wrestled well and got good experience. Now we just have to prepare for this weekend’s tournament.”