File photo – Owen Hamm

The McKinleyville Panthers moved into a tie atop the Big 5 standings with a 72-50 win at Eureka in a make-up game on Saturday night.

With the win, which was their third in three matchups against Eureka this season, the Panthers improved to 4-1 in the Big 5 (12-5 overall) and are now tied with Del Norte for first.

Arcata, which had a non-conference win at St. Bernard’s on Saturday, is 3-1 in the Big 5 with a game in hand.

The Panthers had a balanced performance offensively, with four players finishing in double digits, including Owen Hamm, who scored a team-high 18 points.

Teammates Jack Clancy and Jordan Brown each finished with 12 points, while Connor Alto added 11 points.

Caden Vance scored a game-high 22 points for the Loggers, who dropped to 1-4 in the Big 5 and 7-12 overall.

Hans Chalmers added eight points and Ean Savage had seven.

The game was close for the opening half, but the Panthers began to pull away after the interval.

“In the second half they made some adjustments and we ended up having some turnovers that were pretty costly,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “They’re a good team. They can shoot the ball well and they play well together.”

Donovon Millender had a good night for the Loggers and played some good defense off the bench, while Chalmers continued to impress and “did well defensively and running the offense for us,” according to DeHart.

Savage also had a good night in the loss, giving his team a boost with some valuable minutes off the bench.

Arcata 59, St. Bernard’s 47

The Tigers improved to 6-1 against H-DNL teams this season with a non-conference win at St. Bernard’s on Saturday night.

Brandon Bento-Jackson and Josiah Gomez each scored a game-high 17 points in the win, as the Tigers improved to 17-3.

Gomez had a productive all-around night despite battling injury, while Kai Purcell added 15 points.

“I thought Josiah played one of the better all-around games he’s played all year, if not the best,” Arcata head coach Kellen Maynard said.

Owen Shanahan led the way offensively for the home team and scored 16 points, while teammate Peyton Smith added 13 points and Seth Dyer 12, all of them on 3-pointers.

The Crusaders played well against the Big 5 opponent despite the loss and dropped to 12-5.