File photo – The Eureka Loggers

Three H-DNL teams were in a action at the Enterprise tournament on Friday as they get set to open conference play next week.

The McKinleyville Panthers won for the second straight day in tournament play, defeating University Prep 57-51, while the Eureka Loggers lost in overtime to the host school 62-54 and the Del Norte Warriors lost for the second straight day, falling 55-45 to West Valley.

Bode Douglass and Nick Maher each scored a team-high 19 points for McKinleyville, as the Panthers improved to 2-0 in tournament play and 11-5 overall.

The victory was the fourth straight for the Panthers, who are building some momentum ahead of their conference opener next week.

“Tonight was the definition of basketball being a game of runs,” said McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis, whose team went up by 10 on several occasions only for University Prep to battle back time and again.

One night after a strong defensive performance against West Valley, the Panthers offense stepped up and created several scoring opportunities.

“We were really getting anything we wanted on the offensive end but couldn’t knock down some open looks booth inside and outside in opportune moments,” Davis added. “University Prep did a nice job of answering runs with some of their own, knocking down some tough contested shots.”

The McKinleyville team defense continued to impress, led by Cole Armstrong, who was “contesting everything in the paint,” according to the coach.

Neil Noon also had a big game for the Panthers, particularly on the defensive end, marking one of West Valley’s best players.

Moon also had eight points.

“Offensively we did a great job tonight beating our man off the dribble, drawing in the help and finding the open man where the secondary help wasn’t,” Davis said. “It was really beautiful to watch at times.”

Gaelen Creighton also impressed for the Panthers.

“Gaelen also made great strides tonight as he continues to develop as a sophomore to understand the physicality of varsity hoops.” Davis said.

The McKinleyville JVs also continued their impressive season, improving to 16-0 with a victory over a good West Valley team and advancing to their tournament championship game.

Enterprise 62, Eureka 54

The Loggers saw their six-game winning streak end as they suffered just their second loss of the season, falling to the host school at the Enterprise tournament.

However, the coaches were more than happy with the team effort as they continue to build momentum ahead of their conference opener next week.

“It was a really, really great game,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “From the jump, it was close throughout.

“Enterprise is a great team and well coached and our guys showed up ready to play. We were real proud of how they came out of the gate.”

Sophomore Ryder Mitchell finished with a double-double for Eureka, scoring 19 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, while teammate Elijah Estrada also continued to impress and added 14 points, five rebounds and three steals.

The Loggers led for much of the game but the home team took a lead in the fourth to make for an exciting finish.

Will Mooney hit a big 3-pointer for Eureka with a minute remaining in the fourth to tie the game, but the home team would quickly re-take a two-point advantage.

Mitchell then hit another big 3 for Eureka and added a free-throw for a four-point play after being fouled on the attempt.

But the hosts would once again come down to tie things up and enjoyed the better of exchanges in overtime to secure the win.

The Loggers struggled to hit their free throws in the extra period.

Michael Jewell, who continues to provide a big spark for his team off the bench, and Trenton Gerber each added seven points for Eureka, which dropped to 10-2 on the season.

Makai Dennon did “a great job anchoring the defense,” according to DeHart, while Mitchell was “all over the place” and did a good job with a really tough defensive assignment.

“Our guys, they just continue to impress with their will to win,” DeHart said. “Enterprise is a great team and we knew they were going to be tough coming in.”

The Loggers will play University Prep in the tournament third-place game on Saturday at 3 p.m.

West Valley 55, Del Norte 45

The Warriors dropped to 0-2 in tournament play with a 10-point loss to West Valley on Friday, one day after an overtime loss to University Prep.

Overall, it was a disappointing team performance.

“Last night’s overtime loss took a lot out of us,” Del Norte Cris Rice said. “We came out flat and had one of our poorest performances of the season.”

The Warriors till try to bounce back when they close out tournament play against Lassen on Saturday.

With the loss, the Warriors dropped to 11-4.

They open conference play at Arcata on Wednesday night.

“We’re looking to finish strong tomorrow against Lassen and get ready for a big league game on the road at Arcata,” Rice added.

File photo

Arcata 49, Ukiah 45

A short-handed Arcata team improved to 11-5 with a four-point win over Ukiah in non-tournament action at Arcata High.

Playing without four players, including Luke Moxon and Luke Lemke, the Tigers were able to take care of business as they get set for their conference opener at home against Del Norte on Wednesday night.

The home team opened up a 10-point lead in the first quarter and made it stick in an evenly-matched game after that.

Dayquan Dunn scored a team-high 12 points in the win, while teammate Dawson Vallerga also impressed and added 10 points.

Jack Luh, who has been enjoying a good season so far, chipped in seven points.

The performance was a solid one for the Tigers, but head coach Kellen Maynard knows his team will have to step up if the Tigers are to challenge for this year’s Big 5 title.

“Hopefully we can get it cleaned up in the new few days before Del Norte come here on Wednesday,” he said.

Moxon, who was rested for the game, will be back in time for the conference opener and Maynard added he is also hoping to have Lemke available.

Lemke picked up an injury in his first game with the team at the Red Bluff tournament shortly before Christmas after playing a key role in leading the Tigers to a state championship in football.

Two other players were also missing for Friday’s game for personal reasons.