Submitted photo – The Del Norte Warriors won their season opener on Friday night.

The Del Norte Warriors won a pair of early-season games in basketball on Tuesday night, with both the boys and girls teams defeating Ferndale in Crescent City.

Senior Michael Webster continued his impressive start for the boys and scored a team-high 20 points as the Warriors comfortably took care of the Wildcats by a score of 77-29.

It was the team defense that set the tone as the Warriors held the visitors below 30 points.

“We just played really intense defense,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “And we played physical basketball.”

Three of the team’s sophomores — Damian Escalera, Justin Cushman and Sawyer Fry — played key roles in the win.

Escalera scored 17 points and Cushman had 14, while Fry made his presence felt throughout at shooting guard and “looked pretty good,” according to the coach.

Rice has plenty of offensive options on this year’s team and the Warriors could be a threat to win the Big 5 when conference rolls around in the new year.

“The thing I like about our team is we have quite a lot of depth,” the coach said.

Returning all-league player Lyon Rigden made his season debut after missing the season opener on Friday night with an ankle injury.

No immediate stats were available for the Wildcats, who were playing their season opener after just finishing up the football season this past weekend.

“To Ferndale’s credit, their football kids had just one practice,” Rice added.

The Warriors will now turn their attention to this weekend’s Yreka tournament, where they will open against Klamath Union on Thursday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

“I’m sure they’re going to be our toughest test so far,” Rice said of Klamath Union.

The Eureka Loggers will also be in action at the Yreka tournament and could face the Warriors in the final if both schools advance that far.

Girls

Del Norte 50, Ferndale 39

The Del Norte girls got their first win of the season with an 11-point victory over Ferndale.

Brooklyn Carter scored a team-high 15 points in the victory, as the Warriors improved to 1-1.

Jaylee Keeling added 15 points for Del Norte, while Tsinte Steinruck chipped in eight points.

The win was a nice response from a team that lost its season opener against Hoopa on Friday night.

“Much better defensively,” is how Del Norte head coach Dylan Nelson described his team’s performance. “Goal is to get a little better every game and every practice.”

No stats were immediately available for Ferndale.