This year marks the 57th annual Arcata Invitational Basketball Tournament (AIBT). The Arcata High Leadership class is responsible for the planning and execution of the school-wide rally. During the rallies, the whole Arcata High student body comes together to celebrate our athletes.
During the yearly rallies, the AHS basketball team and teams from other schools compete in games organized by our Leadership class. The final event of the AIBT rally always ends in a slam-dunk contest. This event gets the crowd on their feet and really brings the spirit to the gym.
Eureka High Senior Owen Hiscox, the winner of the 3-point contest, said, “ I just went out there and made the most threes…everyone was staring at me… I just remember making the most.”
Senior guard Luke Lemke took 2nd place in the dunk contest. Lemke said, “You just gotta be more mean, just do your thing.”
Lastly, the winner of the slam dunk contest, Joey Clevenger from South Medford, won the contest with a gravity-defying windmill dunk. It was spectacular!
Clevenger said, “ I love to jump, I do the high jump in track, so being able to translate it to basketball is pretty fun.”
With the rally over, it’s time for the games to begin. Arcata will be a formidable force in the tournament with star athlete senior Lemke standing at 6’3”, 205lbs with a 35” vertical, he is one baller on the court.
Arcata’s own Jack Luh said that, “I think we’re going to win tonight… but either way it’s going to be a great learning experience for the team.”
At the time of the rally, Luh reported that Arcata High had a 1-0 record, beating Red Bluff the previous night by “like 20 points.”
With a strong lead, Arcata has great momentum to take this all the way.
Arcata High advanced all the way to the finals of the tournament, where they played against South Medford High School. South Medford has a powerful team. The team was very tall, fast, and very athletic. Arcata fought hard against the Panthers. But despite all the Tigers’ efforts, the South Medford Pathers took the chip and won the 57th annual AIBT.
The Tigers are set to move forward and come back stronger than ever, with around six players injured. Arcata will have a huge surge in depth after the return of the players on injury reserve.
Stay tuned to the AHS Pepperbox to follow AHS athletics.
