Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Wednesday night’s game at McKinleyville.

By Ray Hamill — The McKinleyville Panthers got their Big 5 campaign off to an impressive start after rolling over Del Norte 53-26 at Mack High on Wednesday night.

The win was the fifth straight and seventh in their last eight games for the Panthers, who appear to be hitting their stride as conference play gets under way.

The Arcata girls also won their league opener on Wednesday with a 53-30 victory at Fortuna, while league favorite Eureka had an opening night bye.

At McKinleyville, the Panthers came out fired up and quickly took control of the game, opening up a 17-4 lead after the opening quarter.

The Mack girls dominated at both ends of the court, with their defense creating turnovers and their offense converting the opportunities.

“I think we’re really executing well on both the offensive and defensive end,” McKinleyville head coach Jacob Cheek said. “Especially on offense, the way we’re moving, the way we’re rotating.”

The Panthers also created a lot of second chances with some aggressive rebounding.

They continued to roll in the second quarter and stretched their lead to 18 by halftime.

After that there was no way back for the Warriors, especially without injured team captain and one of the team’s best pure shooters, junior Brooklyn Carter.

“We kind of got the turnover bug early and couldn’t find the basket,” Del Norte head coach Dylan Nelson said. “Just a little bit of growing pains going on, but I think we’ll regroup.”

There were plenty of standouts for the Panthers, who were led offensively by Tatum Fisher, who finished with a game-high 14 points, including six in the opening quarter as the junior standout helped set the early tone.

Gabby Watson also was instrumental in the win and finished with 13 points, while Taly Turner added seven points.

With the victory, the Panthers improved to 1-0 in the Big 5 and 10-5 overall.

Asked what has impressed him the most about his team so far this season, Cheek responded “I think as a team the way they’ve been buying into what we’re giving them. It’s been a total team effort all around.”

Neyr-res Bartoo added six points in the win, while teammate Bella Turner finished with five points.

“McKinleyville’s a good,” Nelson said. “I think they’re a little underrated.”

The loss was just the third of the season for the Warriors, who came into their league opener with 12 wins in 14 games.

Jacalyn Gorbet was a definite bright spot for Del Norte and matched Fisher with a game-high 14 points.

Fellow senior Koy-Pah McQuillen also had a good game and gave the Warriors some big minutes off the bench.

“They kept on fighting,” Nelson said of his players.

Anyessa Bettega added three points in the loss, as the Warriors dropped to 0-1 in conference and 12-3 overall.

Del Norte won the JV game.

At Fortuna, meanwhile, the Arcata girls also got their league campaign off to a winning start.

The Tigers have been one of the stories of the season so far under first-year head coach Charlie Espinoza, who believes a competitive December tournament schedule has benefitted his players.

“We’re clicking,” he said after Wednesday’s win. “We had to come back from playing in the Bay Area and Sacramento and we had a lot of tough competition, and I wanted to keep that same intensity and we did that.”

Sophomore twins Mae and Tae Wolford continued to set the tone for the Tigers against the Huskies, while junior guard Addison Wingate also had a big game.

“She played great dominating the glass and finding her shot today,” Espinoza said of Wingate.

With the win, which was their fifth in six games, the Arcata girls improved to 1-0 in the Big 5 and 10-3 overall.

“I’m just proud of the girls. Fortuna’s always a tough place to place,” Espinoza said. “Our girls weathered the storm and we came out and we played well and we ran our sets.”

Mariah Bravo finished with seven points and five rebounds for the Huskies, who dropped to 0-1 in the Big 5 and 11-6 overall.

Emily Sauers also had seven points as well as four rebounds.

“We struggled to handle Arcata’s pressure defense and did not match their intensity in the first half,” Fortuna head coach Tom Chapman said. “We did a much better job in the second half and played at the intensity needed to compete in our tough league.”

League play continues on Friday.

The Eureka Loggers, who had an opening-night bye, will tip off their conference campaign at home against Del Norte, while Fortuna travels to McKinleyville.

Both of those games are set for 7:30 p.m.

The Arcata girls have a league bye on Friday and will host Ukiah in non-league action on Saturday afternoon at 3.