Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Jack Clancy in action for McKinleyville on Wednesday night.

Five of the six H-DN boys teams to qualify for the North Coast Section playoffs have advanced to the quarterfinals after an impressive showing for the league on Wednesday night.

One night after St. Bernard’s knocked off John Swett on the road by a score of 70-67, five more local teams opened their playoffs on Wednesday, with McKinleyville the only H-DN team to lose.

Fresh off their thrilling Dick Niclai Tournament win on Friday night, the Panthers suffered a heartbreaking 69-68 loss against visiting Kelseyville.

The Mack boys battled back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit but came up just short to end their season.

The Arcata Tigers fared better and bounced back from a disappointing Niclai final loss by dominating Middletown in their Division-4 section opener, winning 78-43.

Also in action on Wednesday, the Fortuna boys rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat visiting Healdsburg 68-56 in the Division-4 bracket, while nearby at Ferndale the Wildcats defeated Calistoga 51-45 in Division-6 action.

Also in Division 6, the South Fork Cubs pulled away from a competitive Potter Valley team to win 82-61.

All five H-DN teams still alive can qualify for the NorCal tournaments with a win in their upcoming quarterfinals.

At Arcata High, Luke Moxon showed no ill-effects from the Niclai loss and scored a game-high 22 points against Middletown.

The Tigers, however, did have to overcome a slow start before quickly pulling away.

“We started a little sluggish,” head coach Kellen Maynard said. “It was probably a little bit nerves, a little uncertainty. Basically it was the first playoff game for most of my team.

Action from Wednesday’s game at Arcata

“But I thought once we got to the second quarter they took a deep breath and relaxed. We were able to attack their zone after the first quarter.”

Dayquan Dunn continued his impressive recent form with 12 points, while Josiah Gomez finished with 10 points, Kalani Butor had nine and Luke Lemke eight.

“It was a total team effort,” Maynard said. “Everyone got in. Everyone got to play.”

The No. 5 seeds in Division 4 will play at No. 5 Marin Catholic on Saturday.

Fortuna 68, Healdsburg 56

The Huskies overcame a poor second quarter on the way to an opening-round win over Healdsburg at Fortuna on Wednesday.

Trailing by nine at halftime after being outscored 23-5 in the second quarter, the No. 8 Fortuna boys responded with a big second half to pull out the come-from-behind victory.

Senior Cody Collins scored 21 of his team-high 25 points in the second half, as the Huskies outscored the visitors 49-28 after the interval.

Three other Fortuna players finished in double digits in scoring, including Alfonso Medina, who had 12 points, and Jake Houseworth and Donald Bickle, who each finished with 10.

The Huskies, who improved to 18-10, will now play at No. 1 seed University in Saturday’s quarterfinals in a rematch of last year’s playoff game, which the Reds Devils won.

South Fork 82, Potter Valley 61

The Cubs took advantage of a balanced offensive performance on the way to a 21-point win over Potter Valley in the Division-6 bracket on Wednesday.

It was a close game early on, but the Cubs’ depth off the bench saw them pull away as the game went on.

Tommy Rotbergs had another big game offensively and paced South Fork with 17 points, as 12 of the 14 Cubs players scored.

“Potter Valley really came to play,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said. “It was a great atmosphere. They brought a ton of fans and it was a great battle for the first half.

“But our deep bench and our ability to run the floor wore them down.”

Jesus Duron and Broc Contreras each scored 11 points in the win, while John Harding finished with 10 points.

The No. 3 seeds, who improved to 18-5, will now advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round where they will host No. 6 Fremont Christian.

Also in Division 6, No. 8 Ferndale got the better of No. 9 Calistoga 51-45 and advances to play No. 1 Cornerstone Christian on Saturday.

Kelseyville 69, McKinleyville 68

The Panthers rallied from a 13-point deficit late in the fourth quarter but fell just short in their NCS opener against the No. 11 seeds in the Division-4 bracket.

Seniors Cody Whitmer and Jack Clancy closed out impressive careers with big contributions.

After being held scoreless for the opening quarter Whitmer finished with a game-high 31 points, including 16 in the second period to help get his team going.

The senior standout had six 3-pointers and eight rebounds.

Clancy, meanwhile, finished with 13 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, as well as nine rebounds and five assists.

The loss ends a memorable season for the Panthers, who won a thrilling Dick Niclai Tournament  final over the weekend and finished the year 22-7.