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

By Ray Hamill — Here we go again.

On Wednesday night, the McKinleyville Panthers took care of business against a lower seed in the opening round of the North Coast Section girls basketball playoffs to set up a quarterfinal showdown against a familiar foe.

The Mack girls, who are seeded No. 5 in the Division-4 bracket, beat No. 12 Branson 40-28 at McKinleyville and will now face Big 5 rival Arcata in Saturday’s quarterfinal.

That game will be played as part of a doubleheader with the McKinleyville and Arcata boys, each of whom won their playoff openers on Wednesday as well.

The McKinleyville girls comfortably held off Branson, but it was a far from perfect performance.

“Sometimes the first round of the playoffs are not pretty, but if you come out with a win, it’s always a positive,” McKinleyville head coach Jacob Cheek said. “I think we executed the game plan well, but we’ve got to do a better job executing down low.”

Defensively, the Panthers never really allowed the visitors to settle into the game, with their press causing the Bulls problems throughout, especially the tenacious Taly Turner.

“I thought our press did well,” Cheek said. “Taly Turner set the tone with her energy. She did a phenomenal job tonight.”

Tatum Fisher led the way offensively, as she has for much of the season.

The standout senior finished with a game-high 22 points, including 11 in the first quarter.

She also had nine points in the fourth quarter to help keep the visitors at bay.

Liz Mengel added six points in the win, while Mia Rasmussen and Bella Turner each finished with three points.

The Arcata girls have won all three matchups against McKinleyville this season.

The Tigers, who are seeded No. 4 in the bracket, got a forfeit victory over Ygnacio Valley on Wednesday.