Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Jack Clancy in action for the Panthers on Thursday.

By Ray Hamill — The Panthers overcame a poor night shooting the ball to pull out an opening-day victory over Enterprise at the Arcata boys basketball tournament on Thursday.

The McKinleyville boys shot just 33 percent, but maintained their fast start to the season and improved to 4-1 with the 45-39 victory.

“It was another ugly win, but we’ll take it,” head coach Cindy Semore Clancy said. “We shot horribly.”

The Panthers settled into the game and played better in the second half, outscoring Enterprise 17-10 in the final quarter to pull out the come-from-behind win.

Despite missing so many shots, the Mack players did a good job on the offensive boards to create several second chances, and eventually the shots began to fall.

Cody Whitmer finished with a team-high 24 points in the win, while Jack Clancy added eight points and 11 boards.

Jordan Brown turned in another strong defensive performance, while adding five points.

“Jordan’s ball pressure was just exceptional,” Semore Clancy said, adding “I was really happy with the win. I thought our defense played really well.”

The head coach also praised the efforts of first-year assistant coach Tyler Pelascini, who did a good job with the game plan.

“I thought coach Pelascini prepared our players well for the game,” she said.

Payton Harbin and Cameron Hooven also continue to play a key role for the team.

“Cameron and Payton are starting to come around and giving us good minutes right now,” Semore Clancy said. “And that’s going to help.”

The Panthers will continue tournament play against Piner at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.