Yuba City senior forward Anthony Medina drives towards the basket in the Honkers 69-41 victory on Thursday, December 7, over Marin Academy.

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - The 58th Annual Mel Good tournament concluded last Saturday, December 9 as the Chico Panthers were given the title as they were the only undefeated team throughout the tournament.

Chico defeated River Valley (65-44), Marin Academy (64-50) and Kennedy 41-40.

Pleasant Valley took third place as they beat the Yuba City Honkers 60-52 last Saturday. Honkers head coach Terry Evans told the Dispatch that Yuba City was within possession in the final two minutes of the game, but after committing fouls, Pleasant Valley sank six consecutive free throws to push the game out of reach for the Honkers.

In Yuba City’s first game of the tournament, their shooting got off to a hot start against Marin Academy as they opened the game with a huge-cushion lead after the opening quarter and never looked back.

Yuba City senior guard Saleem Rafiq (1) lays that ball up in the 69-41 win over Marin Academy in the Mel Good Tournament on Thursday, December 7.

“It helped the energy level, and you could see it come out on our defense,” Evans said.

Evans added that with them being one of the smaller teams in the Capital Valley Conference this season, they need to play pressure defense to be successful throughout the season.

Honkers senior guard Salim Rafiq shot lights out throughout the tournament as he shot 55% from the field and 58% from beyond the arc from the three-point line.

Yuba City senior guard Felix Marta (2) shoots a three pointer in the Honkers 69-41 over Marin Academy in the Mel Good Tournament on Thursday, December 7.

Rafiq was named to the all-tournament team as he averaged 20.6 points per game.

In addition to Rafiq, Yuba City senior forward Anthony Medina added a six pack of charges taken in the tournament and earned a spot on the all-tournament team as well to represent the Honkers.

Like Yuba City, CVC and town rival River Valley lost a pair of games to two of the top-10 Northern Section teams in Chico and Pleasant Valley.

The River Valley Falcons senior Munneth Gill was named the all-tournament team as well. River Valley head coach Brian Lowe told the Dispatch that the Falcons are young and a work in progress.

River Valley senior Munneth Gill (14) puts the ball up against Chico in the Falcons 65-44 loss on Thursday, December 7.

Lowe told the Dispatch he scheduled a tougher preseason schedule to accommodate the rough CVC schedule they play during league.

River Valley lost to Chico where they kept the game close until the second half of the third quarter where the Panthers eventually pulled away for the victory.

Gill provided a double-double in the Falcons’ second tournament game against Pleasant Valley with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

In the final game of the tournament, River Valley beat Marin Academy 59-49 as it included three Falcons that scored 10 or more points in the game.

River Valley junior forward Jackson McPeak scored 17 points and snagged 16 rebounds in the game for the Falcons.

River Valley played Chico this past Tuesday evening for the third time since the beginning of December before the Falcons headed to Chico and began playing in their tournament last night.

River Valley guard Tarun Nijjar (1) shoots the ball in the paint in the Falcons 65-44 defeat against Chico in the Mel Good Tournament at Yuba City on Thursday, December 7.

The Honkers hosted Rosemont Tuesday night and Yuba City began the Nevada Union tournament yesterday against Bear River.

The first CVC matchup between the Honkers and River Valley is set for Monday, January 22 at River Valley.