Crescent Elk Middle School (players in white) won two games over Redwood Elementary Wednesday night. Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

Thunen Gymnasium wasn’t rocking for the Warriors on Wednesday night, but for the Warriors in training. Seventh- and eighth-grade boys basketball teams from Crescent Elk Middle School and Redwood Elementary School  squared off before a house divided.

“We’ve got some rabid fans on both sides,” said Krystol Berry, wife of Raiders seventh-grade coach Matt Berry and mother of Redwood seventh-grader Steven. “I don’t know if it’s actually come to blows, but we’ve had some heated cheers.”

The lines of Red versus Green, as in all rivalries worth their salt, occasionally blurred. Newly crowned Warrior Superfan Tim Nuszkiewicz was in attendance, rooting for the Redwood eighth-grade team coached by his brother, John. The two graduated, Tim Nuszkiewicz noted with a laugh, from Crescent Elk.

Parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters supported their family members. Current Del Norte High students were not too cool to root for their old school. Sophomores Marcus and Adrian Henderson, Crescent Elk alumni, were on hand to watch their brother, seventh-grader Jaydin, play for the Cougars. The game play evoked memories of basketball games past. “I just liked getting the pizza afterward,” Adrian Henderson admitted.

Second-half scoring run sparks Mack

The Del Norte High boys basketball team has now dropped six of its last seven games, the latest loss a 65-53 decision at McKinleyville High on Thursday night.

Nonetheless, progress has been made. After a listless effort in a home loss to Ferndale on Tuesday, the Warriors bounced back with a stronger effort against the Panthers.

“I thought the kids played hard,” Del Norte head coach Blaine Lopez said. “I thought in particular our bench did a good job especially early in the game, giving us a spark. Especially in the first half.”

Compared to the Warriors’ first contest against McKinleyville, a 57-36 home loss on Jan.5, “we handled some things a little bit better, but we were also playing at their place,” Lopez said. “They shot the ball a little bit better and made some difficult shots.”

Del Norte goes 1-1 for week after defeating Ferndale

Del Norte High girls basketball coach Mike Ernest has set a benchmark for his players: If the Warriors make 60 percent of their free throws, the Warriors will win their games.

Del Norte players stepped to the free throw line 13 times in the fourth quarter against McKinleyville. The Warriors made four shots.

The Panthers made seven of their eight attempts, and in doing so iced a 55-51 victory over Del Norte Friday night at Del Norte High School.

“We competed and played hard, but hitting free throws at the end is a learned thing,” Ernest said. 

“McKinleyville played like champions. They’ve been there, done that. (In the fourth quarter,) they stepped up to the line like it was nothing. You could tell we were tentative.”

It was a stunning turn of events for the Warriors (8-10 overall, 0-5 Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 League), who played a strong first half, fell behind in the third quarter and overcame a 10-point deficit to take the lead — twice — late in the game.

Bruce Beck of Redding uses a Wright & McGill side drifting rod to land a steelhead Jan. 20 on the Chetco River while fishing with guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing. The fish hit a cluster of roe cured with Pautzke’s BorxOFire fished with a size-4 Lazer Sharp octopus hook. Courtesy of Andy Martin / Wild Rivers Fishing

With more rain in the forecast through the weekend, steelhead fishing on the Smith and Chetco Rivers should be great throughout the weekend and next week.

Smith River

The river has been mighty low and mighty clear after weeks without significant rainfall, but after more than 2 inches of rain on Wednesday, anglers did very well on the Smith River on Thursday.

Phil Desautels, of Phil’s Smiling Salmon Guide Service, said that one guide landed three fish on the first two goes at the forks: a double hook-up on the first casts and another steelie on the casts right after.

“With periodic showers coming for the next few days, it’s only going to get better,” Desautels said, adding that as the water clears up more, the fishing will improve. “The water is increasingly getting better.”

Side-drifting roe and yarn with a fish pill has been the best technique for most boat anglers. Plunkers were reportedly doing fair to good with fish caught at Ruby Van Deventer Park and the water tower.

Del Norte High sophomore Josh Gruden attempts a shot over Ferndale’s Ike Townsend on Tuesday night. Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

A familiar storyline for the Del Norte High boys basketball team reared its head in a 48-44 home loss to Ferndale: start out slow, work back into contention, watch the deficit increase as the game wears on and come back part of the way at the end.

“From the first guy on our bench to the last guy on our bench, we’ve got to have more intensity, more energy,” Warriors coach Blaine Lopez said. “We’re not good enough to spot people 10-point, 12-point leads.”

That is exactly what Del Norte (6-10 overall, 1-3 Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 League) did against the Wildcats, who opened the game on a 10-0 run. The Warriors were scoreless for the first four minutes and 14 seconds of the game before embarking on an 8-2 scoring run of their own.

Once again, the Del Norte offense, plagued by fits and starts all season, disappeared. The Warriors scored two field goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half as Ferndale (8-7 overall) took a 22-15 lead into the halftime locker room.

DNLL sign-ups to be held Sat.

Registration for Del Norte Little League will take place on Jan. 26 at the Mary Peacock School Library from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Boys ages 4–12 and girls ages 4–16 are welcome to participate in baseball and softball. Cost is $55 for T-ball registration, $65 for Minor levels and $75 for Major levels. There are $10 discounts available for early registration and additional children.

Parents must bring their child’s birth certificate and three documents dictating proof of residency dating from February 2012.

Registration forms may be obtained at the DNLL website, www.delnortell.com.

The Del Norte High wrestling team racked up a pair of victories in dual meet action Wednesday night at Fortuna High School.

The Warriors defeated St. Bernard’s Catholic High of Eureka, 55-0, winning all three contested matches.

Del Norte followed that up with a 59-30 victory over the Huskies, going 9-2 in the 11 contested matches.

“We wrestled very well tonight,” Warriors assistant coach Clinton Schaad said. “It was a big improvement from our dual meet (at Arcata) last week.

DNHS basketball games on tap 

Before commencing with the second half of the Humboldt-Del Norte Big 5 League season, the Del Norte High boys and girls basketball teams will face off against an opponent from the “little four.”

The Ferndale High boys basketball team travels to Del Norte High School today to face the Warriors. The junior varsity contest begins at 4:30 p.m., with the varsity game following at 6 p.m. There will be no freshman game.

Today’s radio broadcast of the Del Norte High boys basketball home game against Ferndale High begins at 6:30 p.m. on KPOD (97.9 FM). The winner of the Warrior Superfan contest will be announced during the broadcast.

The Del Norte girls junior varsity (4:30 p.m.) and varsity (6 p.m.) teams will play at Ferndale on Wednesday.

Tsunami Sirens open season Feb. 2 

Roller derby is back in season in Crescent City.

Six Warriors make it to semifinal rounds; Boulby, Evans finish second

Del Norte High wrestling has pulled itself off the mat.

After two weeks of disappointing performances in tournaments and dual meets alike, the Warriors turned in strong individual and team performances at the North Coast Classic wrestling tournament, held Saturday at Eureka High School in Eureka.

The Warriors finished the one-day tournament with 131 points, third to tournament champion and host Eureka (191 points) and Pleasant Valley High of Chico (164.5). Enterprise High (120) and McKinleyville (118) rounded out the top five teams.

“We had a better tournament than we had at the Crater Classic (on Jan. 12 in Central Point, Ore.),” Del Norte assistant coach Clint Schaad said. “We wrestled better as a team.”

Nine Warriors wrestlers competed in the tournament as the team continues to be wracked by injuries and illnesses.

“We’ve had a lot of little things (happen) — we’re yet to get our full team together on the mat at the same time,” Schaad said. “They’re sick, they’re out of town, they’re hurt. It’s disheartening at times, but this is a good group of kids that works hard.”

Of the nine wrestlers, six made it to the semifinals of their respective weight classes, all juniors: Skiler Haddad (128 pounds), Robert Boulby (140), Jackson Evans (147), Hawk Mattz (154), Eric Turner (172 pounds) and David Plechaty (197 pounds).