Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Kaitlin Giacone in action for the Loggers at McKinleyville on Wednesday night.

By Ray Hamill — Halfway through the Big 5 schedule no one has come close to stopping the Eureka Loggers.

On Wednesday night, the Eureka girls made it four wins in four conference games with a dominating 56-29 victory at McKinleyville High School.

The win lifted the Loggers to 16-3 on the season and leaves them alone in first place in the Big 5 standings, one win clear of second-placed Arcata.

The Tigers kept their championship hopes alive with a 41-32 win at Del Norte as they improved to 3-1 in the Big 5, with their only loss coming against Eureka on Friday.

The Loggers have largely dominated in all four of their conference games, with an average winning margin of 20.2 points.

A 10-point win over Arcata is the closest any of their opponents have come to knocking off the two-time defending Big 5 champs.

It was a familiar tale on Wednesday, as the Loggers came out the stronger of the two teams and quickly opened up an 11-point lead by the end of the first quarter.

They would stretch the advantage to 19 at halftime, with junior Mallorie Beauchamp hitting a couple big 3-pointers late in the second quarter.

“The ball movement tonight was some of the best I’d seen on the North Coast,” Eureka head coach Cliff Napoleon said. “I’m proud of the energy that was carried over from the Arcata game. But unlike the Arcata game, we started in fourth gear and kept it there for the entirety of the game.”

Eureka also enjoyed a balanced offensive team performance with six players finishing with six or more points.

Freshman Tiara Maualuga continued to play well beyond her years and finished with a team-high 10 points, as did senior Isis Poteet, who got the party started with a couple of big baskets early to help set the tone.

Samara Gaither also had 10 points in the win, while Kaitlin Giacone added eight points and freshman Oliviana Millender had seven points.

Beauchamp chipped in six points and Maia Hales added four points.

The Loggers improved to 16-3 overall.

The Panthers, meanwhile, dropped to 2-2 in the Big 5 with their second straight conference loss and are now 11-7 overall.

Junior Tatum Fisher impressed in the loss and had the hot hand for the home team while scoring a game-high 15 points.

Fisher was 6 of 7 from the free throw line.

Next up, the Panthers will try to bounce back when they play at Del Norte on Friday night, while the Loggers will have a bye in conference play on Friday and will make the short trek across town to play St. Bernard’s in a non-league game on Saturday at 5 p.m.