File photo – The Ferndale Wildcats

The Del Norte Warriors held their nerve down the stretch and were able to keep the McKinleyville Panthers at bay in the opening round of the Dick Niclai Tournament in Crescent City on Tuesday night.

The Warriors shot 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and held on for a 55-51 win.

The victory sets up a semifinal showdown against St. Bernard’s at College of the Redwoods on Thursday night.

In the other Dick Niclai opening-round game on Tuesday, the Ferndale Wildcats defeated the Hoopa Warriors 56-45 at Ferndale.

The win was the third for the Ferndale girls against Hoopa this season and sees them advance to Thursday’s semifinal round, where they will play Big 5 champion Eureka, also at CR.

Thursday’s winning teams will play for the Niclai championship at Cal Poly Humboldt’s Lumberjack Arena on Friday night.

Del Norte’s Jacalyn Gorbet was instrumental in Tuesday’s win and finished with a double-double.

The junior standout scored a game-high 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

The Warriors, who improved to 18-7, led by five at halftime, but the Panthers refused to go away and continued to battle all night to make for a close finish.

Gabby Watson hit three big 3-pointers in the final minutes to help keep her team in touch, but the Warriors sealed the win with some clutch free throws late in the fourth quarter, including four by Lili Nunez in the final minute.

Brooklyn Carter also had a good game and finished with 14 points, while Nunez added 13 points and Gianna Taylor nine.

Trinity Preston led the way offensively for the Panthers and scored 13 points, while the clutch Watson added 10.

Tatum Fisher and Camryn Pinard each scored seven in the loss, while Kim Lewis finished with six points.

The game was the third of the season between these two teams, with Del Norte now holding a 2-1 advantage.

Despite the loss, the Panthers will qualify for next week’s North Coast Section playoffs and they should get a home game.

The Mack girls, who are 15-9, are ranked No. 5 in NCS Division 4, according to MaxPreps, with as many as 16 teams qualifying in the bracket.

The St. Bernard’s girls, who have beaten Del Norte in both matchups between the two teams this season, are ranked No. 2 in Division 4, one spot ahead of Del Norte.

Thursday’s rematch tips off at 6 p.m.

The last time these two teams met was on Jan. 21, with the Crusaders edging out a 42-41 win in an exciting and entertaining game.

File photo – The Del Norte Warriors

Ferndale 56, Hoopa 45

The Wildcats completed a three-game season sweep over their Little 4 rivals, thanks to a good night shooting and a fast start.

The Ferndale girls opened up a 20-6 lead in the opening quarter and never allowed the visitors to close the gap.

Carly Carmesin scored a team-high 21 points in the win, including three 3-pointers, while Emily Chavez added 13 points and also hit three big 3s.

Kyla Albee also had a big all-around game and added 14 points as the Cats bounced back from last week’s Little 4 loss to St. Bernard’s with an emphatic response.

“I’m really proud of the girls and we are excited to make it to the semifinal game against Eureka,” Ferndale head coach Terra Albee said. 

Reaghan Langer added five points in the win, while Tinnley Pidgeon chipped in two points.

The Wildcats were just as effective on defense and held Hoopa standout Tatianna Colegrove to seven points.

“Hoopa never gave up though, and they had other team members step up and contribute tonight,” Terra Albee said. “We had to play hard the whole game.”

The Cats improved to 18-6.