Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Thursday’s game between Eureka and Fortuna.

The Eureka Loggers got the McKinleyville girls basketball tournament off to a winning start on Thursday, running out to a 73-46 win over Fortuna.

The Huskies started the stronger of the two teams and led by three after the opening quarter, but the Eureka girls quickly settled into the game and took control with a dominating second quarter, with senior Payton Goodman helping to get the offense going.

“Fortuna came out on fire,” Eureka head coach Mike Harvey said. “They played great, but thankfully Payton Goodman had a couple of big 3s to get us going.”

McKenna Beach continued to impress for a deep Loggers team that had all 11 players score.

Beach, who is one of this week’s Humboldt Sports Athletes of the Week, finished with a team-high 17 points, while Goodman and Claire Maples each scored 11 points.

The Loggers led by just five points after three quarters, but put the game well out of reach in the fourth, outscoring the Huskies 26-4 for the period.

Kira Morris and Aniah Gaither each added eight points for the Loggers, who improved to 7-3.

Isobel Crosswhite continued to impress for Fortuna and matched Beach with 17 points, while teammates Kylee Fennell and Teal Mostovoy each chipped in nine points.

“Credit to (Fortuna) coach (Tom) Chapman, he had his girls ready and they played really well in the first half,” Harvey said. “But I’m proud of my girls. They fought through adversity and finished strong.”

Mariah Napoleon had a big second half defensively for Eureka.

Both teams will continue the round robin tournament on Friday.

Eureka plays Yreka at 5:30 p.m., and Fortuna plays McKinleyville at 7 p.m.