Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday night’s game at McKinleyville.

The Panthers started and finished strong in a non-league girls basketball game at McKinleyville High on Saturday night on the way to beating Ferndale 54-39.

Camryn Pinard scored a game-high 23 points in the win, as the Mack girls improved to 12-4 on the season with their third win in three games against Little 4 opponents this season.

“We played pretty good,” McKinleyville head coach Jacob Cheek said. “We were up and down a little bit, but we got the win.”

The home team held the visitors to just three first-quarter points and led by 11 after the opening period.

But the Cats would settle into the game and began to cut into the deficit after halftime, pulling to within three points late in the third quarter.

The Panthers, however, closed out the stronger of the two teams and outscored the Wildcats 21-14 in the fourth to seal their second straight win.

“As a team, once we run our offense and do the right things we are a very good team,” Cheek said.

Trinity Preston added 10 points in the win, while teammates Morgan Stubbs and Kim Lewis each finished with seven points.

The loss was just the third on the season for the Wildcats, who dropped to 11-3, with two of those defeats coming against Big 5 teams.

The ever-dangerous Emily Chavez scored a team-high 15 points for Ferndale, including three second-half 3s, while teammate Reaghan Langer finished with 13 points, six of them coming in the fourth quarter.

“They have some really good shooters on their team,” Cheek said of the Wildcats. “And once they get going you’ve got to up in their face.”

Camryn Pinard scored a game-high 23 points.

Kyla Albee added six points for Ferndale, while Carly Carmesin chipped in five points.

Tatum Fisher and Taly Turner each had four points for Mack.

Next up, Ferndale tips off the Little 4 at Hoopa on Monday night, while McKinleyville hosts Arcata in Big 5 action on Tuesday.