File photo – The Eureka Loggers got their Big 5 campaign off to a winning start on Thursday night.

The first week of the Big 5 has belonged to the road teams, and in particular the McKinleyville Panthers.

On Thursday night, the Mack boys traveled to Fortuna and defeated the Huskies 53-47 to go to 2-0 in the Big 5 and 13-6 overall and take over sole possession of top spot in the early standings.

Also on Thursday, the Eureka Loggers tipped off their league campaign with a big 55-40 win over Del Norte in Crescent City, improving to 1-0 in the Big 5 and dropping the Warriors to 0-2.

The first four games of this year’s Big 5 have all gone to the visiting team.

Nick Maher had a career night for the Panthers and finished with a double-double.

The junior center scored a game-high 27 points and pulled down 15 rebounds.

Maher hit on 11 of his 16 field goal attempts and was an impressive 5-for-6 at the free throw line.

“Nick was absolutely incredible tonight on both sides of the court,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. “He positioned himself very well on the offensive end with pick and rolls, found the open space when others drove the lane and was extra active on the glass.

“One of his big hurdles has been mental toughness and he has completely turned a corner since the beginning of the season and the coaching staff is very proud of his hard work and dedication.

“(Assistant) coach (Noah) Wheeler has been instrumental in his growth.”

Teammate Flynn Creighton added 10 points for the McKinleyville boys, who have opened league play with back-to-back road wins at Del Norte and Fortuna.

Creighton also nailed two free throws with three seconds remaining to ice the win.

McKinleyville’s Bode Douglass added nine points on three 3-pointers in what was one of the Panthers’ most impressive team performances of the season.

“This was by far our most complete game of the season,” Davis said. “We haven’t started games well over the past few weeks and our guys were ready to play from the start tonight.

“We’ve talked a lot about mental toughness and composure since the beginning of the season and slowly but surely we’re making good strides, and tonight was probably our biggest stride yet.”

The victory was secured with some strong defense.

“Overall it was a complete team defensive effort that won us this game with a special game by point guard Jordan Brown,” Davis said.

File photo – Jordan Brown

Brown held Fortuna standout Alfonso Medina to just two second-half points, while Armstrong also did an outstanding job against Fortuna standout Russell Pascascio.

The loss was the second in two league games for the Huskies, who dropped to 10-7 on the season.

The Mack freshmen and JVs also won their matchups.

At Crescent City, meanwhile, the Loggers broke open a tight game with a big second half, utilizing their team speed to frustrate the home team.

The Warriors led for much of the opening half and held a two-point advantage (25-23) at the interval.

File photo – Bode Douglass

But their offense would fade in the second half for the second game in three days, as the Loggers outscored them 15-4 in the third quarter to take control.

“That third quarter was kind of the big quarter for us,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “Our guys rallied.”

Elijah Estrada scored a team-high 15 points and added eight rebounds for the visitors, who improved to 11-6 overall, while teammate Michael Jewell added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Will Mooney and Trenton Gerber each also had 11 points.

“We’re pretty depleted,” DeHart added. “We have three players out and two starters, so we had to have some guys step up.”

Jewell picked up some of the slack with one of his biggest games of the season, while Elijah Griffrin gave the visitors some valuable minutes off the bench.

The loss was the seventh straight for the Warriors, who dropped to 0-2 in conference and 6-11 on the season.

After dropping 17 straight games to Del Norte, the Eureka boys have now won two straight against their Big 5 rivals.

Michael Webster continued his big week for the Warriors.

File photo – The Fortuna Huskies dropped to 0-2 in the Big 5.

Two days after scoring 19 in a loss to McKinleyville, Webster had a game-high 16 against the Loggers, including 14 in the first half.

Lyon Rigden added 11 points for Del Norte, while Aidan Rice finished with eight points and Ryan O’Laughlin chipped in four points.

It was a tale of two halves for the home team.

“They came out strong,” DeHart said of Del Norte. “They were super prepared. Coach (Cris) Rice deserves ton of credit. He has them playing hard.”

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they were unable to carry the momentum over into the second half.