File photo – Ivy Lamebear scored 25 points for the Hoopa girls on Thursday.

The Fortuna Huskies tipped off the Redwood Empire Invitational Basketball Tournament in Healdsburg with a 55-48 victory over Middletown on Thursday night.

In other local girls games on Thursday, Del Norte and St. Bernard’s both won their opening games at the Mt. Shasta Holiday Classic.

The Warriors defeated Weed 54-41 and the Crusaders defeated Mt. Shasta 60-11.

Also in action on Thursday, Eureka got a nice win over a quality San Domenico team at the Marina Carrillo tournament in Santa Rosa, winning 64-36, while Hoopa beat Redding Christian 68-28 and Ferndale beat Willows 60-29.

The McKinleyville Panthers lost their tournament opener in Healdsburg, falling 59-18 to Justin-Siena.

At Healdsburg, Allie Cox continued her impressive start to the new basketball season after a big fall on the soccer fields.

The multi-sport standout scored a team-high 19 points against the Mustangs in what head coach Tom Chapman described as a “good opening-round win.”

“Our press caused problems for Middletown,” the head coach said. “We did a good job running the floor in transition.”

Mariah Bravo added 12 points in the win, while Kalie Chittendon chipped in 11 points.

With the win, the Huskies improved to 6-1.

At Mt. Shasta, Laila Florvilus also continued her impressive start to the new season.

One of this week’s Humboldt Sports Athletes of the Week, Florvilus scored a team-high 13 points as the Crusaders improved to 4-0.

Madelyn Shanahan also had a good game and finished with 12 points, while Alyssa Boham added nine points.

Several SB players contributed in this lopsided win.

Rihanna Fontenot had six points, Aliyah Vigil and Jocelyn Sundberg five apiece, Samantha Sundberg and Kayla Maples four each and Ella Hart two.

The Crusaders continue tournament play against Weed on Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Also at Mt. Shasta, Brooklyn Carter led the way for the Del Norte girls.

The junior sharpshooter scored a team-high 15 points as the Warriors improved to 4-1 on the season.

Teammate Jacalyn Gorbet also had a good game and finished with 12 points, while Anyessa Bettega added eight points and Tsinte Steinruck seven.

The Del Norte girls will continue tournament play against Etna at 1 p.m. on Friday.

The Loggers, meanwhile, beat a San Domenico team that was the Division-4 runner up in the state last year and has most of the players from that team back this year.

“Our defense was great tonight,” head coach Cliff Napoleon said. “I was so proud of the way we communicated. It was absolutely amazing to see.”

The Eureka girls were particularly impressive on the boards.

“The biggest and most impressive thing tonight was our rebounding,” Napoleon added. “We dominated on the board.”

Senior Isis Poteet was particularly effective on the boards, along with freshman Tiara Maualuga who is having an immediate impact at the varsity level.

“Both those kids did a phenomenal job and finished with double digit rebounds,” the coach said. “We were physical all over the court.”

Poteet scored a team-high 22 points while reigning Big 5 MVP Kaitlin Giacone added 15 points, Maualuga and Samara Gaither each finished with eight points and freshman Olivianna Millender had seven points.

The Eureka girls will continue tournament play on Friday when they play Analy at 8:30 p.m.

Ivy Lamebear and Tashee Tracy both had a big night for the Hoopa Warriors and each scored a team-high 25 points in their win over Redding Christian.

The Hoopa defense held the Lions to just three points in the opening quarter and opened up a 31-13 lead by halftime.

Talena Downs-Miguelena added six points in the win, as the Warriors improved to 3-3 on the season.

For the Wildcats, Tinnley Pidgeon scored a team-high 26 points in their win over Willows, while Michaela Ellsmore scored 10 points, Reaghan Langer finished with nine points and Madison Gossi chipped in eight.

With the win, the Wildcats improved to 3-1.