Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Taly Turner in action for the Panthers on Wednesday.

The McKinleyville Panthers lost their opening game in the state playoffs on Tuesday night, falling 59-45 to Lassen in the Division-3 bracket at Mack High.

The loss ends a memorable season for the Panthers, who closed out 17-11.

The Grizzlies set the tone in the opening minutes and went on an early 18-3 run to quickly take control and open up a 13-point lead early in the second quarter.

After that, there was no way back for the Panthers, although they didn’t go down without a fight.

“It was up and down,” McKinleyville head coach Jacob Cheek said. “You’ve got to hand it to (Lassen), that’s a team that has been playing together for a while and they were fundamentally sound. But we battled till the end.”

Too many turnovers on offense didn’t help matters for the Panthers, although they played well at the defensive end, while making the Grizzlies battle for every basket.

The Mack girls also came away with some key takeaways early in the game to cut into the first-half deficit.

The visitors, however, led by 11 at the break and stretched the advantage to 18 going into the fourth quarter.

Camryn Pinard scored a team-high 15 points for the Panthers, including five in the fourth quarter, while Gabby Watson finished with nine points, including six in the final period.

Pinard is one of six seniors on the Mack roster, most of whom played well in the season finale, and it’s a group that will be missed.

“I appreciate them,” Cheek said of the seniors. “They’re such awesome people and they were a fun group to coach this year.”

Tatum Fisher added eight points in the loss, while Trinity Preston finished with six points and Tatum Fisher had eight.