Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Prince Latimer in action for the Loggers on Wednesday night.

The Loggers ended a four-game losing streak with an 82-41 win over Del Norte in Big 5 boys basketball at Eureka High on Wednesday night.

More importantly, the win keeps the Eureka boys in contention for a conference championship and a place in next month’s Dick Niclai tournament.

Knowing what was at stake going into the game, the Loggers came out fired up for the occasion and quickly took control, opening up a 21-point lead less than seven minutes in.

Prince Latimer and Jahmil Rippy helped set the tone and quickly put their stamp on the game.

Latimer would score a game-high 21 points, while Rippy added 14 points, including 10 in the opening quarter.

“We knew going in that we were going to have to push it tonight,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “Obviously we had some rough games that didn’t turn out the way we were hoping. But our guys showed up with energy (tonight) and were positive.”

The win lifts the Loggers to 3-2 in the Big 5 (13-10 overall) and leaves them in a tie for second in the standings with Arcata with three games remaining each.

They still trail Big 5 leaders McKinleyville by two games after the Panthers pulled out a thrilling come-from-behind win over the Fortuna Huskies on Wednesday.

At the very least, however, the win keeps the Loggers on track for a Dick Niclai tournament spot.

And according to the coach, the Eureka players will continue to battle.

“We feel like we’re still in the hunt for first place,” DeHart said. “We feel on any given night we can beat any team. We feel we have the ability to go as far as we want to go.”

Elijah Estrada also impressed in the win and finished with 11 points, while Julian Goodman came close to a double-double and finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Nelson Botzler-Washington had a big night in the paint and finished with 16 rebounds and six points, while Will Mooney added six points.

Toa Ou also gave the Loggers a spark off the bench and received the game ball for his efforts.

“He’s just an amazing individual,” DeHart said of the senior forward who took advantage of his time on the court. “He got an opportunity and he came in and played great defense. He was everywhere on the floor.”

The Warriors, meanwhile, dropped to 1-5 conference and 8-13 overall.

Lyon Rigden impressed in the loss and finished with a team-high 15 points, while teammate Michael Webster added eight points.

Danner Dowd did a good job on the boards and added six points, while Leon Erler came in off the bench and scored six points.

Next up, the Loggers will try to keep their championship hopes alive when they host Fortuna in another must-win game on Friday night, while the Warriors will play a non-league game at Kelseyville on Saturday.