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The Eureka Loggers continued their impressive early-season form with a tournament-opening win at the Windsor tournament on Thursday.

The Loggers beat Branson 52-38 for their fourth straight win and improved to 6-1 on the season.

In other games on Thursday, Arcata defeated the host school at the East Nicolaus tournament 52-34 and improved to 3-3, while the Hoopa Warriors won their opening game at the Trinity Holiday Classic, beating Modoc 50-44.

Also in action on Thursday, at the Healdsburg tournament, the Fortuna Huskies improved to 6-1 with a 41-31 win over Tamalpais and the McKinleyville Panthers beat Ukiah 38-24 and improved to 5-1.

At the Mt. Shasta tournament, the St. Bernards girls kept their unbeaten start to the season going with a big 80-11 win over Etna.

The defending state champs are averaging just under 70 points a game in their first four games and have outscored their opponents 279-75 while improving to 4-0.

Senior Samara Gaither led the way offensively for the Eureka girls and scored a team-high 18 points in their win.

Junior Nashaya Williams also has impressed early in the new season and added 14 points, while sophomores Tiara Maualuga and Olivianna Millender chipped in eight and seven points, respectively.

The Loggers will continue tournament play on Friday when the play Encinal in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m.

Fortuna 41, Tamalpais 31

The Huskies overcame a slow start for the second straight night on the way to a 10-point win in their tournament opener at Healdsburg.

The Huskies opened a four-game road trip with a 46-34 win at Marin Academy on Wednesday and improved to 6-1 with Thursday’s tournament win.

“We had another slow start,” said Fortuna head coach Tom Chapman, whose team trailed 17-15 at halftime. “But the team came out with great energy in the third quarter.”

The Fortuna girls opened the second half with a 10-0 run to take control of the game and their defense was able to keep the Red Tailed Hawks at bay down the stretch.

The Huskies outscored Tamalpais 17-5 in the third.

Jorlynn Villalvazo continued to impress and scored a team-high 10 points in the win, while teammate Mariah Bravo added eight points and Taylor Heussler chipped in seven points.

Heussler was particularly effective on the boards.

“Taylor Heussler did a great job rebounding,” Chapman said. “She was tenacious.”

The coach added that he likes the way the team is coming together in the early season as the Huskies continue to build ahead of league play in the new year.

“We are continuing to develop as a team,” said Chapman, who added “All the girls contributed to the win, committing to play solid defense.”

The Huskies will continue tournament play against Healdsburg on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

St. Bernard’s 80, Etna 11

The high-flying Crusaders comfortably improved to 4-0 with another big win to open the Mt. Shasta tournament.

The level of competition, however, should get substantially better in the coming days with three defending state champions in the final four of tournament play, including SB, Weed and Pyramid Lake of Nevada.

Once again, several players had big contributions for the Crusaders in Thursday’s win, including Samantha Sundberg who finished with a team-high 13 points.

Makinsey Lemley and Carli Baum each also scored in double digits and finished with 12 points apiece, while Laila Florvilus and Kayla Maples each had nine points.

Alyssa Boham also impressed with eight points, while Ella Hart added seven points and Aliyah Vigil chipped in six.

The unbeaten Crusaders will play Mt. Shasta in Friday night’s semifinal at 7 p.m.

McKinleyville 38, Ukiah 24

The Panthers continued to impress with a tournament-opening win at Healdsburg.

Their only loss of the season so far has come against defending Oregon state champion Henley.

Senior Gabby Watson has been hugely influential for the team early in the new season, and that continued to be the case on Thursday as she finished with a team-high 14 points in the win.

McKinleyville’s Tatum Fisher also impressed and added eight points, while teammate Bailee Box chipped in seven points.

The Panthers started the stronger of the two teams and led by eight after the opening quarter, but the Wildcats battled back in the second quarter and cut the deficit to just three going into halftime.

The Panthers, however, would outscore the Ukiah girls in each of the final two quarters, including a 15-5 third quarter that saw them take control again.

The Panthers will continue tournament play against Justin-Siena on Friday at 5 p.m.

Hoopa 50, Modoc 44

The Warriors got their second win of the year at the Trinity tournament, defeating Modoc by six points.

Impressive senior Ivy Lamebear continued to hep set the tone for her teammates and scored. a team-high 22 points as the Hoopa girls improved to 2-3.

Sophomore Wau’Kel Blake added 11 points in the win, while Millennia McKindley finished with eight points.