Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Wednesday’s game at McKinleyville High School.

The McKinleyville Panthers appear ready to play their biggest rivals in what will be the game of the season so far here on the North Coast.

On Wednesday night, the Panthers comfortably took care of business against the Fortuna in Big 5 boys basketball, running out to a 58-40 win at Mack High and improving to 3-0 in conference play.

The win sees them take over sole possession of top spot in the Big 5 standings, but for how long?

On Friday night, the Panthers will face off against the Tigers at Arcata High in a key conference showdown with the lead in the standings on the line.

The Tigers had a bye in conference play on Wednesday and are 2-0 in the Big 5.

In the other Big 5 game on Wednesday, the Eureka Loggers traveled to Crescent City to play Del Norte and won a close game 61-55 for their first conference win.

The Loggers, who ended a two-game losing skid, improved to 1-1 in the Big 5 and 12-4 overall, while the Warriors fell to 0-3 and 12-7.

The Panthers will carry plenty of momentum into Friday night’s big clash after posting their third straight win and their seventh in eight games.

Head coach Chris Davis has his players playing well at an opportune time of the season and after a strong start to Wednesday’s game they never really looked in danger of losing.

The Panthers’ defense played a key role in the win.

“Real happy with how our guys executed our defensive game plan tonight,” Davis said. “That really set the tone for us in the first half.”

A 9-0 run in the opening quarter saw them lead 13-7 going into the second, and they stretched the advantage to 15 at halftime (28-13).

The Huskies to their credit came out strong in the second half and went on a 7-0 run to open the third quarter to narrow the deficit to eight points.

But after being held without a point for the opening four minutes of the third quarter, the host Panthers quickly reestablished their superiority and went on a 10-0 run to stretch the advantage to 18 points late in the period.

And they won with some balanced scoring.

Neil Moon scored a game-high 16 points as he continues to play a key role for McKinleyville.

Moon, who had four 3-pointers, helped keep Fortuna at bay late in the game with 12 points in the fourth quarter.

“Neil, once again, really got us into our offense well tonight and handled Fortuna’s pressure like a veteran,” Davis said of his team’s starting point guard. “He pushed in transition when needed and let up in the right moments.”

The always dangerous McKinleyville duo of senior Cole Armstrong and junior Bode Douglass each added 12 points in the win, as the Panthers improved to 14-6 overall.

“Cole played more aggressively on the offensive end when we got a bit stagnant at times and put us back on track,” Davis added. “That’s what a leader does and I was happy he took that initiative tonight.”

Nick Maher added eight points in the win and Henry Turner IV chipped in seven.

The Huskies also had a balanced night scoring.

Jake Houseworth scored a team-high 11 points, while Jace Barsanti added nine points and Jack Stacy finished with eight points.

“Fortuna is really scrappy and handled a couple of our runs well with a few of their own,” Davis added. “They knocked us in the teeth at the start of the second half and battled throughout.

“Credit to (Fortuna head coach) Norm (Sotomayor) because he has those kids bought in, playing hard and ready for adversity.”

Hunter Reback and Owen Wallen each chipped in five points for the Fortuna boys, who dropped to 0-2 in the Big 5 and 8-11 overall.

Up in Crescent City, meanwhile, the Loggers got their first conference win after dropping their Big 5 opener at McKinleyville last week.

The winning performance was also a nice response from the players after falling to crosstown rival St. Bernard’s over the weekend.

Elijah Estrada continued to impress for the visitors and scored a team-high 20 points and had five rebounds, while Trenton Gerber added 12 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals, and Will Mooney finished with 11 points and three assists and helped set the tone early the game.

“Will Mooney set our offensive tone early with a few huge 3s in the first quarter,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said.

An evenly-matched game went down to the wire after Del Norte senior Michael Webster hit a 3-pointer in the final 90 seconds to pull his team within three.

Webster, who fouled out moments after making the late 3, scored a game-high 23 points in the loss.

Teammate Lyon Rigden added 12 points, while Ryan O’Laughlin finished with eight points.

The loss was the third straight for the Warriors and their fifth in six games, as they came out slow and trailed early 12-0.

“We missed a lot at the beginning and put ourselves in a hole,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “We didn’t start well.”

Sawyer Fry added six points for Del Norte and Aidan Rice chipped in four points.

“I’m proud of the kids’ effort,” Cris Rice added. “We played hard till the end.”

The loss was the first at home this season for the Del Norte boys.

Standout sophomore Ryder Mitchell of Eureka helped keep the host team at bay late in the game and scored six of his seven points for the night in the fourth quarter, including some key free throws.

The Loggers kept their composure throughout, with Mooney and Gerber also hitting some clutch late free throws.

“There were a few times Del Norte went up by one or two, but we were able to get ourselves back into it through focus on the defensive end and some excellent ball movement on the offensive end,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said.

Michael Jewell also had six points for Eureka, which remains in contention for the conference championship with the win and well on course for one of the coveted Dick Niclai tournament spots.

“Mike Jewell had a hugely impactful game for us off the bench,” DeHart added. “His energy was infectious for his teammates and his contributions were felt on both ends of the court.”

Next up, on Friday, Fortuna plays at Eureka, while Del Norte has a bye in conference play.

The Warriors will try to get back to winning ways when they host St. Bernard’s in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at 3 before resuming Big 5 play next Wednesday at Fortuna.