Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Monday night’s game between the Huskies and Panthers at McKinleyville.

The McKinleyville and St. Bernard’s boys basketball teams have advanced to the Dick Niclai Tournament semifinals after winning their opening round games on Monday night.

The Panthers faced off against the Fortuna Huskies and won a defensive showdown 41-38, holding on late in a game that was close throughout.

The win was the third in three matchups against the Huskies this season and sets up a semifinal showdown against South Fork on Wednesday at College of the Redwoods.

Jordan Brown returned to the lineup for McKinleyville after missing the past two games because of injury and had an immediate impact.

Brown scored a game-high 14 points and played some strong defense on Fortuna standout Alfonso Medina.

Cody Whitmer also was instrumental in the win, coming back in the second half after taking a hard knock earlier in the game.

“Cody Whitmer showed a lot of toughness,” McKinleyville assistant coach Tyler Pelascini said of the senior sharpshooter, who had two 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.

Jack Clancy added seven points in the win, while Cameron Hooven had two big 3s in the third quarter to keep the game close.

Fortuna was led offensively by Cody Collins, who finished with 10 points, while Russell Pascascio had seven points.

Medina and Jake Houseworth each chipped in six points, while Donald Bickle finished with four.

Pelascini said he was “ecstatic” with a defensive performance that held a dangerous Fortuna lineup to just 38 points, but admitted there were some letdowns elsewhere.

“Fortuna was able to find matchups that put them in successful positions,” he said.

Pelascini and the Panthers are expecting a tough matchup against a South Fork team that closed out the regular season strong on the way to clinching the Little 4 championship.

“I expect a gritty, grind-it-out kind of game,” the coach said. “Those guys are rested and they’re going to come out with energy and play hard.”

St. Bernard’s 74, Ferndale 60

Less than a week after the Wildcats ended their Little 4 championship hopes, the St. Bernard’s boys responded with a 14-point win over their league rivals to advance to the Niclai semifinals.

The Crusaders outscored the visiting Cats in each of the opening two quarters to open up a 12-point gap at halftime.

And while Ferndale was able to narrow the deficit with a big third quarter, the home team held them at bay down the stretch to seal the win.

The Crusaders will now advance to play Arcata in Wednesday’s semifinal at CR at 7:30 p.m.

Several players stepped up their game against the Cats.

Senior Owen Shanahan returned to the lineup after missing the last two league games and made his presence felt despite still not being 100 percent.

“Owen’s presence on the court changes the game, just by being out there with his defense and his outlet passes,” St. Bernard’s head coach Issac Gildea said. “He gave everything he had to the team, to the school. What great senior leadership.”

Aaiden Burris also had a huge night and scored a co-team-high 20 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, while teammate Seth Dyer also scored 20 points.

“Seth and Aaiden were fantastic all game,” their head coach said. “Aaiden was on point mentally and it really helped our team out.”

Wyatt Simoni added 16 points in the win, while Liam Dyer finished with 10 points and Tyler Dimmick chipped in six.

“Tyler and Wyatt both played well by being more aggressive,” Gildea said. “And Liam found opportunistic moments to hit big shots.”

Jack Westfall scored a game-high 21 points for the visitors, while Thomas Fergison finished with 17 points, including five second-half 3-pointers.

Isaak Kasso also had a good game and finished with eight points, while Braeden Rice had five points and Kannon Christiansen and Wes Renner each scored four.

Gildea said his team is looking forward to the challenge of taking on the Big 5 champions on Wednesday.

“We’ll be ready to roll,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”