Tournament time for DN

Boys are playing in Redding, girls are in Bay Area

Doug Ovick of the Del Norte High boys varsity basketball team goes down the court guarded by a Hoopa defender on Dec. 17 at home. Starting on Wednesday Del Norte will play at the three-day “Jamie Angley” Hornet Classic at Enterprise High School in Redding. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

As they have done for several years the Warrior boys are at the “Jamie Angley” Hornet Classic at Enterprise High School in Redding where they will face Foothill of Palo Cedro of the Redding area at 4:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 97.9 FM and online at www.kpodfm.com.

The girls squad plays for the first time at the West Coast Jamboree in Dublin in the Bay Area against Bronson. The contest starts at 2:30 p.m.

Del Norte Warrior Boys

Del Norte will have its hands full facing Foothill, which is considered one of the  best teams in the region and is 8-2 for the year.

 The Cougars’ only two losses were against top squads from Southern California in Pasadena and Compton.

In the Northern Section rankings on Maxpreps, Foothill is the No. 2 overall and is No. 21 in the California Division 3 rankings.

The Warriors have had their struggles to start the year with a young squad that brings back only three players from last year’s team that won a co-share of the Big 5 Conference title. Del Norte is 3-4 for the year.

Del Norte head coach Blaine Lopez said his squad must play its best game of the year if it wants to be competitive with a team the caliber of the Cougars.

“They are very athletic,” he said. “They are going to play tough and go after us. They are going to be one of the best teams, if not best team we’ve played this season.”

The Warriors must keep turnovers to a minimum, which has been a problem at times.

In a Dec. 17 loss against Hoopa in Crescent City, Del Norte turned the ball over around 20 times.

Lopez believes if Del Norte can play tough, aggressive defense, a Warrior specialty over the years, be consistent with its shot selection and “play as hard as we can,” hopefully they can be competitive.”

Tournaments like this are a perfect opportunity for the Warriors to face tough competition as they prepare for the upcoming Big 5 season.

“It will get us ready to face the good teams we’ll see in the Big 5,” he said.

De Norte next plays at home on Jan. 4 against Little 4 opponent St. Bernard’s of Eureka. On Jan. 6 they will open the Big 5 season at home against McKinleyville.

Del Norte Warrior Girls

The Warrior girls are playing at the West Coast Jamboree, which will feature 132 teams in numerous divisions throughout the Bay Area.

“I think this is going to be good for us,” said Del Norte head coach Buzz McCulloch. “We should be facing fast, athletic teams. It should be great competition and a fun tournament for us.”

McCulloch said that his team must do a better  job of getting to the free throw line and being more consistent for “the entire 32 minutes.”

McCulloch said his team’s strength is getting baskets off fast breaks, so the Warriors need to do a better job of creating these opportunities.

Del Norte is 3-5 for the year.

The Warriors are contending with the loss for the year of their leading scorer from last year, Brittany Maready, who suffered a knee injury in the second game of this season.

McCulloch said his team must have  more players step up and be consistent scorers.

Two of those who have been steady so far this year getting points for Del Norte are juniors Emma Card and Taylor Cleland.

After the tournament Del Norte will take on St. Bernards of Eureka on the road Jan. 3.

The Warriors have a long wait to finally get to play at home. The first home game of the year is not until Jan. 19, when they face Big 5 opponent Arcata.

Reach Bill Choy at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it