Arcata High fell short of Montgomery at the 56th Annual Arcata High Invitational Basketball Tournament (AIBT). Montgomery won by just five points, beating Arcata 48 to 53.
“I’m disappointed we lost,” head coach Kellen Maynard said. “We could and should have won. The effort and hustle the guys gave and everything they put on the line, I couldn’t have asked for more.”
Complications like technical calls arose early on in the game.
“We had too many players on the court,” Maynard said. “It was an overall funky situation and bad luck for us.”
At the half, the Tigers trailed 23-25.
Seniors Luke Moxon and Dawson Vallerga were named Arcata’s all-tourney players.
They both played impressive games. Moxon was the team’s top scorer with 20 points. Vallerga, just behind him, scored 11.
“Dawson and Luke have been the big leaders and stepped up early on,” Maynard said, “especially with the missing football players [competing at state].”
Other stand-out players were Jack Luh and Lucian Rodriguez.
“Jack Luh had a good tournament and improved from the weekend before,” Maynard said. “Lucian has been doing well for us too.”
Luh made 11 points for his team while Rodriguez made 4.
Montgomery’s Jaden Greer, senior, scored 20 points and led his team to victory.
“Montgomery had three super solid kids that were just tremendous players and we were all well aware of who they were,” Maynard said. “I thought we did a pretty good job for most of the game to slow their guards down.”
The Tigers stayed strong even with a condensed team.
AHS fell short in a championship game for the second weekend in a row.
“I’m disappointed that we lost,” Maynard said. “You never like to lose a championship game, especially in our own tournament.”
AHS boys basketball has their next tournament in Red Bluff from December 19th to December 21st, and their first league game on January 8th, 2025 in the AHS gym at 7:30 p.m. against the Del Norte Warriors.
