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MARKETPLACE Visit Motorway del.icio.us Digg Reddit YahooMyWeb Google What's this? 2004 Nissan Sentra (CAR) Jobs Click for Details Classifieds Loggers rule the city 1997 Dodge Caravan (CAR) Real Estate Brad Botkin/The Times-Standard Click for Details Place An Ad Article Launched: 02/17/2007 04:28:15 AM PST TCW Classifieds 2000 Toyota Tacoma (CAR) On The Market Click for Details Ads There are victories, and then there are Click photo to enlarge statements. 1998 Volvo V70 GLT ABOUT US Wagon (CAR) Click for Details Contact Us This was a statement. A statement that

Jobs With Us sounded in Arcata, and reverberated clear 1972 Diesel MBZ (CAR) Subscribe Now back to Eureka, leaving absolutely no Click for Details Write A Letter doubt as to who holds the proverbial key Our History to the city. 2003 Yamaha 650 V-Star Our Locations classic Motorcycle (CAR) The Eureka Loggers pulled the rug out Click for Details from underneath the St. Bernard's 2000 Toyota Avalon (CAR) Crusaders on Friday night in the Dick Click for Details Niclai championship game at Humboldt State University, emphatically defeating 1998 Ford Ranger XLT (CAR) them 65-43 in a performance that Click for Details illuminated the immeasurable difference between champions and contenders. 1999 Dodge Dakota (CAR) Click for Details And as lopsided a game as that score 1998 Mercury Mystique indicates, it was even worse. GS (CAR) Click for Details The Loggers simply did whatever they wanted, whenever they felt like doing it -- and stubbornly refused to allow St. Bernard's to do anything it wanted. 1974 Datsun (CAR) Click for Details Within two minutes this outcome was a forgone conclusion. Led by the tenacious defensive pressure of Lee Thibodeaux -- who despite being on the 2000 Ford Focus ZX3 (CAR) short end of about an 8-inch height disparity, was handed the responsibility Click for Details of shadowing the Crusaders' Mr. Everything Vince Ayala -- the Loggers 2004 Acura TL (CAR) relentlessly swarmed St. Bernard's. Click for Details

The Crusaders couldn't even get into their offensive sets, let alone even think 2001 F-350, 6-speed (CAR) about scoring. Routine passes to the wings were turning into daunting Click for Details

tasks, and 2002 Splash 20 foot Travel turnovers were Trailer (CAR) Advertisement piling up at an Click for Details alarming rate -- all because of Eureka's pressure.

The air was sucked out of the Crusaders before they even took a breath.

”From the beginning to the end we played pretty solid,” said Eureka head coach Duane Peterson. “We had a pretty good defensive gameplan and we executed it.”

When Travis Tollner, who finished with 16 points, dropped a 3-pointer from the corner with just under five minutes remaining in the first half, the Loggers held a commanding 24-7 lead, forcing the stunned Crusaders to call a timeout in a desperate attempt to somehow find a way out of this enormous hole, with a deafening crowd ringing in their heads.

But there would be no way out.

”It was a total lack of aggressiveness on the offensive end,” said St. Bernard's head coach Dave Michael. “And a lot of that has to do with the

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defense. Eureka did a much better job of playing their game than we did. We Ads by Goooooogle allowed them to take us out of our game.” Fremont Luxury That theme continued for the better part of the night, funneling every ounce Apartments of drama that had surrounded this matchup directly into Eureka's pool of Secluded, Country-Quiet momentum. And although it was the magnetic defense that set the tone, Atmosphere. Call Today Eureka's Greg Allen, who finished with 23 points while seemingly never for Specials! breaking a sweat, was equally brilliant on the other end. www.AvalonCommunities.com

Allen, scarily just a sophomore, handled the Crusaders' futile attempts to Humboldt Homes For pressure him with the ease of a seasoned veteran, calmly and decisively orchestrating a Loggers offense that had a perceptible bounce in it step. The Sale kid did everything; he got to the rim, hit from mid-range, found open Search Premier Real teammates, drew contact. He was as close to flawless as a point guard can Estate Listings in be. Humboldt. See prices, photos. ”We feel so comfortable with the ball in Greg's hands because he's such a www.HarmonHomes.com good creator, for himself and for others,” said Peterson. “Having a player like that makes up for a lot out on the court.” Farmhouse Bed & Breakfast But on this night, there was virtually nothing to be made up for. All tangible near 's Giant phases were covered by a group of individuals who had each accepted a Redwoods small working challenge, and collectively conquered it. farm with animals www.riverbarfarm.com However, in spite of being thoroughly dominated for three quarters, the Crusaders actually cut the lead to nine at 49-40 when Tyler Thrap hit a 3-pointer with just over four minutes to play. Arcata Real Estate It made absolutely no sense for the game to be that close at that particular View Current & Local juncture, but nevertheless, it was -- and once again, it was statement time. Home Listings. Find Real And once again, it was Eureka making that statement, this time in the form Estate In CA. Free! of a 13-0 run when it counted most. That's what champions do. www.HomeGain.com

Ayala ended up with a deceiving 22 points. I say deceiving because he didn't have the type of impact on the game that 22 points would suggest. He played well, but simply didn't get the kind of support necessary to win a Hollister CA Real Estate game like this. Let An e-Agent Help You Buy, Sell, Or Relocate in There's a bigger story to this game than the final score, or even how it came Hollister, CA! to be. The story is the makeup of a champion. I brazenly trumpeted the www.e-Agent.com/Hollister Crusaders as the better team preceding this matchup simply because I truly believed that to be the case. And to tell you the truth, I'm still not sure they aren't. But here's the thing, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you believe.

There was only one team on that court on Friday who believed it was a champion, and was willing to take what it wanted. St. Bernard's coach Michael said it best when he stated his team wasn't “committed to what they were doing.” Eureka was fully committed. And more important than being committed, the Loggers walked with the swagger of a team that believed it was unbeatable.

Sports highlights the notion that perception often trumps reality. On paper these were evenly matched teams with differing strengths -- that was the reality. But the perception of that reality was the difference. St. Bernard's played like a team that subscribed to that reality, like a team that thought it had a chance. Maybe. If things went well. If the ball bounced their way.

Eureka, on the other hand, played like that reality was a joke, like a team that fully believed St. Bernard's had no business even stepping on the same court as them. It's the difference between wanting something and having the guts to take it, the difference between hoping not to lose and outright refusing to lose.

And in the end, that's really all there was to it. Both teams had the ability to win this game. Both teams wanted to win this game.

Eureka simply took what it wanted.

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