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The McKinleyville Panthers closed out tournament play at the Windsor Holiday Shootout tournament with back-to-back victories as they continue their preparation for next week’s conference opener in boys basketball.

After tipping off tournament play with a 50-36 loss to Menlo Atherton on Thursday night, the Panthers beat Analy 62-46 on Friday and Enochs 69-59 on Saturday.

The McKinleyville boys are now 9-5 overall.

“It was a great finish to the Windsor Holiday Shootout, as I felt we played our most consistent full game in quite a while,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said after Saturday’s win. “We battled moments of adversity really well each time with runs of our own.”

Bode Douglass scored a team-high 27 points in the win to cap a good tournament for the junior, who was named all-tournament, while teammates Cole Armstrong and Neil Moon each added 11 points, and Henry Turner IV chipped in 10 points.

“Bode had a great tournament overall, but really capped it off well with a big game today and a tough assignment on a very good guard,” Davis said.

Jeremiah Smith and Ray Turner each also impressed for the Panthers and “continue to contribute great minutes off the bench as they are molding into the speed of the varsity level,” according to the coach. 

Moon and Nick Maher each scored a team-best 10 points in the Panthers’ tournament opener against Menlo Atherton, while Armstrong chipped in eight points.

It was always going to be a tough tournament opener against a far larger school that has enjoyed recent success at the section level.

“I was really proud of how hard and physical our boys played against a Division-1 opponent that went to the section finals last year,.” Davis said. “That’s one of the best teams that we’ll see this year and we battled all game.

“Obviously we always want a win, but I wanted to see us answer the call on the physical side of the game and our guys did just that.”

It was Moon’s first game with the team after transferring to McKinleyville High this year, and the starting point guard had an immediate impact.

“Neil is a hard-working player that is always looking to improve and is such a great team guy,” Davis said. “With him taking over at point guard we are a very different team and it feels like guys are able to play their true roles now.”

The Panthers quickly bounce back from the loss with a strong performance against Analy the following day.

Maher led the team offensively with 18 points, while Armstrong added 15 points and Douglass chipped in 10 points.

“Nick had a very consistent game keeping Analy off balance by finishing strong and looking to pass out when doubled,” Davis said of the senior center. 

Ray Turner also impressed off the bench in the win and played with some good energy, while Douglass had one of his better games of the season at both ends of the court.