Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Tuesday’s game at McKinleyville High School.

By Ray Hamill — What a difference a day can make.

Just 24 hours after a hugely disappointing loss to rivals Arcata, the McKinleyville Panthers tipped off the Dick Niclai tournament with a gutsy 53-50 win over Fortuna at Mack High.

An exciting showdown came down to the final seconds, with McKinleyville senior Justin Wells hitting the game-winning basket with 15 seconds remaining to overturn a one-point deficit.

Seconds later, after teammate Jordan Brown forced a turnover on the ensuing Fortuna possession and the Panthers called a timeout, Wells went to the line and was ice cool on his way to draining two clutch free throws.

Fortuna had one more opportunity to force overtime, but a last-gasp 3-point attempt fell just short.

“I’m proud of our team tonight, bouncing back to win a gritty game against a very good Fortuna squad after how we showed up in our game yesterday,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. “When adversity showed its head, we stuck together, kept our heads up and executed on the next possession.

“Huge improvement from last night.”

Cole Armstrong led the way with an inspirational performance just when his team needed it the most.

The influential junior, who has played at an MVP level this season, finished with nine blocks, as well as 12 points, six rebounds and four steals.

“Cole responded well on both sides of the court after a down night yesterday,” Davis said. “He played smart defense on (Fortuna standout Russell Pascascio) and picked the right spots on offense to attack with some nice outside shots.”

Teammate Flynn Creighton scored a team-best 13 points, while Wells added 12 points and Brown had nine points.

Check out Justin Wells’ game-winning basket and his teammates’ reactions below …

Nick Maher also had a big night and finished with seven points and six rebounds.

“We wanted our guards to be pests all night, and for the most part we kept consistent ball pressure, making them uncomfortable,” Davis said. “Justin was a spark on both sides of the floor and continues to let the game come to him over the last few weeks of play.”

The loss was a tough one for the Huskies, who started slow but battled their way back into the game.

“We didn’t quite come out ready to play in that first half,” Fortuna head coach Norm Sotomayor said. “We didn’t pass the ball well and we looked out of sorts.”

The Huskies trailed by eight points after the opening quarter, but began to settle into the game and matched the home team in the second quarter.

Perhaps field by Monday’s disappointing performance, however, the Panthers seemed to have an answer every time the Huskies tried to make a run.

But the visitors closed out the third quarter on a 6-0 run to pull within three going into the final period and they carried that momentum into the fourth, taking a two-point lead less than three minutes in on the first of two Russell Pascascio dunks for the period.

For the next few minutes, the two teams traded the lead with five lead changes, before Wells hit the decisive basket in the final seconds.

“We defended better in the second half, and we kept playing strong and got back in the game,” Sotomayor said. “But they hit big shots when they needed them.”

Pascascio scored a game-high 20 points in the loss, while Alfonso Medina finished with 13 points.

Kallen Barrote and Kobe Spaulding each added five points and Jake Houseworth chipped in four points.

“The bright spot is that even though we didn’t have a good first half, we persevered and played a better second half,” Sotomayor said. 

With the win the Panthers improved to 18-10 on the season and will advance to play St. Bernard’s in the Niclai semifinals at College of the Redwoods on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Huskies, who have dropped three straight games to the Panthers since beating them in tournament play in December, are now 16-10.

The Fortuna boys will try to bounce back in next week’s North Coast Section playoffs.

The NCS brackets will be announced on Sunday and the Huskies should get a top-eight seed and a home game in the opening round.

Some of the St. Bernard’s players take in the action before playing McKinleyville in Thursday’s semifinals.

Tag Wotherspoon calls the action for The Beat 95.1 FM