Photos by Ray Hamill/HUmboldtSports.com – Oscar Bowdish in action for Del Norte at Eureka on Friday night.

After a couple of days of postponements because of the weather and power outages, H-DNL boys basketball returned on Friday night, with some big games in both the Big 5 and Little 4.

The Big 5 got under way with a huge showdown in McKinleyville, where the host Panthers enjoyed a statement 50-34 win over Fortuna in a showdown between two of the league favorites.

Also in the Big 5, the Del Norte Warriors came away from Eureka with a much-needed 63-51 victory over the Loggers.

In the Little 4, St. Bernard’s knocked off the defending champions on opening night, rallying to beat South Fork 68-56.

The Panthers won their game with some strong defense, holding the high-flying Huskies offense to just 20 points over the first three quarters.

No player on either team finished in double digits in scoring, although the home team enjoyed a more balanced night offensively with 10 of 12 players scoring.

Payton Harbin scored a game-high nine points in the win, as the Panthers improved to 1-0 in the Big 5 and 14-3 on the season.

Jordan Brown, Jack Clancy and Cameron Hooven each added seven points in the win, while Cody Whitmer and Flynn Creighton finished with five points each, and Bode Douglass finished with four.

Alfonso Medina scored a team-best eight points for the Huskies, who dropped to 0-1 in the Big 5 and 10-6 on the season.

Russell Pascascio added seven points, while Cody Collins had five points and Donald Bickle four.

Del Norte 63, Eureka 51

The Warriors overcame a slow start to win a key game at Eureka in their Big 5 opener on Friday night.

The Loggers came storming out of the starting gates and opened up a quick 8-0 lead, but the visitors answered immediately and tied the game before the end of the first quarter.

After that, it was back and forth between these two league rivals, before the Warriors broke a late 50-50 tie by closing out the game with a 13-1 run.

“I think both teams didn’t play as well as we would have wanted to, but both teams battled,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “Both teams played scrappy.”

Wyatt Robson and Lyon Rigden each were instrumental for the visitors, especially down the stretch.

“I can’t say enough about those two,” the head coach said.

Robson, who is just recently returned from a longterm injury, scored a game-high 22 points, including five 3-pointers, while Rigden finished with 15 points and was 6-of-7 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

The latter, who is only a sophomore, also did a good job defending Eureka standout Hans Chalmers.

“I was proud of the boys,” Rice said. “We rotated a lot of guys and we stayed fresh.”

Merrick Crabb added seven points in the win, as the Warriors improved to 1-0 in the Big 5 and 8-10 overall, while Ethan Thomas finished with six points, including a couple of big baskets late in the game.

Brody Mattz also had six points and had a “great game,” according to his coach, while Fitch Westyn finished with five points.

Chalmers scored a team-best 20 points for the Loggers, who dropped to 0-1 in the Big 5 and 6-8 overall.

The loss was the fourth straight in what has been a streaky season for the Eureka boys, who were missing two of their best defensive players on Friday due to sickness.

The Warriors held Eureka’s Jamin Gilbert to just three points and that was a “huge” determining factor in the game, according to Eureka head coach Jimmy Rodgers.

The Loggers, however, did rebound the ball well and were in the game until late.

Junior Toa Ou had a big night for Eureka on the defensive side of the ball, while Jahmil Rippey finished with 11 points and Evan Hodges had 10 points.