File photo – The McKinleyville Panthers improved to 2-0 in the Big 5 on Friday night.

Bode Douglass and Neil Moon combined for 48 points to lead the McKinleyville Panthers to their second conference win in three days on Friday night.

The Mack boys kept pace with Arcata with a 67-54 victory over visiting Del Norte.

Also in Big 5 action on Friday, the Arcata Tigers broke open a tight game with a big third quarter on their way to a 66-42 win at Fortuna.

The Tigers and Panthers remain tied atop the early conference standings with identical records of 2-0.

Douglass continued his impressive season for the Panthers and finished with 24 points in the win, as did Moon, who has been a huge addition for McKinleyville this season after transferring over from Hoopa.

“Neil and Bode were locked in offensively and were able to knock down some open looks inside and out,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. 

Senior center Nick Maher added 10 points for the Panthers, who improved to 13-6 with their sixth win in seven games.

Maher did a good job on the glass to complement the performances of Douglass and Moon.

“Nick really cleaned up on the boards well and put himself in good positions to make some plays,” Davis added. 

The Panthers came ready to play.

“I was really happy with how our team executed our game plan tonight and continued to adjust well to changes made at halftime,” Davis said.

“We did a much better job attacking their gaps in the zone after crisp reversals and then making good decisions in the paint, whether that was finishing or finding the open shooter.”

Cole Armstrong and Ray Turner also impressed for the home team.

“Cole and Ray had very nice defensive nights getting deflections and keeping (the Warriors) off balance,” Davis said.

The Warriors, meanwhile, dropped to 0-2 in the Big 5 after also losing at Arcata on Wednesday night.

Lyon Rigden had a big night in Friday’s game and finished with a team-high 20 points and five rebounds, while teammate Michael Webster added 12 points.

“Lyon Rigden played great,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “He came out on fire.”

The home team went on a 7-0 run at the end of the first half to carry some momentum into the break, but the visitors battled back in the second half and cut the deficit to as few as two at one stage.

However, the Panthers would not be denied and did enough to secure the win late.

“The kids gave a lot of effort till the end,” Rice said. “We just have to clean up some stuff.”

Ryan O’Laughlin also impressed for the Warriors and finished with eight points and four assists, while Aidan Rice added four assists and five rebounds.

The warriors, who dropped to 12-6 overall, will try to bounce back when they host Eureka on Wednesday night.

The Panthers will host Fortuna on Wednesday.

The Arcata Tigers, meanwhile, also continued to roll on Friday night, but not took them a while to get going and the two teams were tied 19-19 at halftime.

“We did not play well in the first half,” Arcata head coach Kellen Maynard said. “And Fortuna played extremely well. They took advantage of our defensive aggressiveness.”

With a balanced team performance, however, the Tigers began to take control of the game after the interval, outscoring the home team 28-8 in the third quarter after starting the half with a 10-0 run.

“We just played really, really good coming out of the break,” added Maynard, who praised his players’ composure and attitude at halftime. “And we continued the whole third quarter.”

Arcata’s Dawson Vallerga had one of his better games of the season, according to his coach, and was particularly key in helping to keep the second-half momentum going with some big plays late in the third and early in the fourth.

Luke Moxon scored a team-high 11 points for the Tigers, who improved to 13-5 overall, while Jack Luh added nine points.

Luke Lemke and Vallerga each added eight points and Dayquan Dunn chipped in seven points.

Jack Stacy paced the Huskies on offense and scored a team-high 14 points, while teammate Jake Houseworth added 11 points.

Owen Wallen also scored five for Fortuna,

“I’m not surprised by the effort from Fortuna,” Maynard added. “(Head coach) Norm (Sotomayor) is doing a great job with that group that he has. They’re playing a very aggressive style.

“I’m proud of my guys. We took their best effort in the first half.”

The Fortuna boys were playing their conference opener and are now 7-10 overall. 

Next up, the Huskies will play a non-conference game at home against Ferndale on Monday before resuming Big 5 action at McKinleyville on Wednesday, while the Tigers will have a bye in conference on Wednesday before hosting McKinleyville in a huge matchup next Friday.