File photo – St. Bernard’s Madelyn Shanahan

The McKinleyville girls won for the fourth time in five games on Friday night, defeating the host school at the Livermore tournament 49-11.

After starting the season 1-3, the Panthers are now 5-4 and moved above .500 for the first time with their second win in two days in tournament play.

Bailee Box scored a team-high nine points for the Panthers, including six in the second quarter, while teammate Mia Rasmussen finished with eight points.

Tatum Fisher and Bella Turner each added six points.

The McKinleyville girls will play for the tournament championship on Saturday when they face off against Foothill at 2:30 p.m.

Also in action on Friday night, the Del Norte girls won for the second straight day at the Central Valley tournament, beating Trinity 52-43 and improving to 8-1 on the season.

At the Orland Lady Trojan Classic, the Fortuna girls also won for the second straight night, beating the host school 72-40.

The Arcata girls were in action at the Monterey Trail tournament and bounced back from a 74-71 loss to the host school on Thursday with a 56-49 win over Inderkum on Friday.

The Tigers are now 6-2.

The St. Bernard’s girls played a non-tournament game at Middletown and won 56-32.

Defensive specialist Aliyah Vigil had a huge game in the win as she continues to grow in the  role.

Vigil shut down Middletown’s best player and helped set the tone as the SB defense held the home team to just 32 points.

“She was amazing,” head coach Matt Tomlin said. 

Laila Florvilus continued to lead the way offensively and finished with 21 points while freshman Samantha Sundberg and senior Madelyn Shanahan each added 10 points.

The Crusaders are now 7-1.

File photo – Samantha Sundberg

At the Central Valley tournament, junior Brooklyn Carter scored a team-high 23 points in Del Norte’s eight-point win over Trinity.

Lauren Stutes added seven points in the win, while Jacalyn Gorbet and Tsinte Steinruck each finished with six points.

According to head coach Dylan Nelson, Del Norte’s Khloe Smith did an excellent job finding the shooter.

“I was very impressed with how hard Trinity fought throughout the game,” the coach added.

On Thursday night, the Warriors got the tournament off to a winning start with a comfortable 59-19 win over Central Valley.

A total of 10 different Del Norte players scored in the win, including the in-form Carter, who once again led the offense with 20 points.

Stutes added 12 points in that win, while Gorbet finished with nine points.

Senior guard Anyessa Bettega did a good job distributing the ball to her teammates.

The Warriors will close out the three-day tournament on Saturday in a rematch with Weed, who they defeated 54-41 at the Mt. Shasta tournament last weekend.

Del Norte has now won six straight games and a win on Saturday would secure a second straight tournament championship.

At Orland, senior guard Sabrina Aguilar Arce played her best game of the season to lead Fortuna to victory over the Trojans.

Aguilar Arce scored 13 points and had an outstanding night on the defensive side of the ball.

“She played great defense and was making hustle plays on offense,” Fortuna head coach Tom Chapman said. 

Teammate Kalie Chittenden continued to impress in the win.

The standout junior guard scored a team-high 21 points as the Huskies continued their fast start to the new season and improved to 8-3.

Allie Cox also had a good night and scored 15 points.

“We shot the ball very well tonight,” Chapman said. “We did a good job attacking the basket and passing to the open player.”

The Huskies will play Mt. Shasta on Saturday for the championship at the round robin tournament.

On Thursday night, the Ferndale girls fell 52-42 to Cloverdale, dropping to 4-3.