Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Kai Purcell in action for the Corsairs on Saturday.

There was no letdown for the Corsairs after a three-week break in action and a change of location for Saturday’s basketball game at the last minute.

The College of the Redwoods men came storming out of the gates and never looked back on the way to beating Shasta College 85-71 in both teams’ Golden Valley Conference opener.

The game was switched to Lumberjack Arena at Cal Poly Humboldt at the last minute because of a power outage at CR, but that didn’t seem to affect the Corsairs who quickly took control of the game to lead by 23 points at halftime.

“Any GVC win is worth celebrating, and after a bit of a break I thought we looked very sharp in that first half,” said head coach Ryan Bisio, whose team had not played a game since Dec. 17.

Trey Neff was instrumental in the win and scored a game-high 37 points including five 3-pointers.

“He’s a cat-like prowler out there,” Bisio said of the Medford native who has settled in quickly at CR and was 8 of 8 at the free throw line. “He has an incredible intimacy with the game, he’s a great defensive player and he just has a knack for big moments.

“He was just born to be very good at basketball.”

Former Arcata Tiger Kai Purcell also impressed for the Corsairs, who improved to 1-0 in conference and 17-2 on the season.

The freshman finished with 20 points and made his presence felt in the paint throughout.

“He just had a great floor game today overall,” Bisio said of the 2022 Arcata graduate. “He did a lot of things and he played with a lot of physicality.”

Trey Neff scored a game-high 37 points on Saturday.

Another Arcata graduate, Aidan Atkins-Salazar, also had an impact and finished with seven points, while Jon Nchekwube continued to dominate on the boards and chipped in six points.

“We got off to a good start, which was something we were really hoping to do and something that’s not easy when there are so many variable shaking out like today,” Bisio said.

The Corsairs led by 20 with four minutes to go in the first half and continued to hold the Knights at bay throughout until a late run made for a more flattering final score.

Bisio also praised the efforts of the CR administrators and Athletics Director Bob Brown, who were able to accommodate the late switch in venues.

There was also a sizable crowd on hand for the game.

Shasta dropped to 0-1 and 4-15.

Next up, the CR men will host Butte College next Saturday at 1 p.m.

Former McKinleyville Panther T-Ryan Stumpf (4) looks on from the Shasta bench during Saturday’s game.