Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Cole Armstrong in action for the Panthers on Wednesday night.

The McKinleyville Panthers got off to a flying start and held visiting St. Bernard’s without a point for the opening 12 minutes of Wednesday’s non-conference boys basketball game.

But the Crusaders responded to make a game of it and battled back to take a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter of what was a wild and very entertaining matchup at Mack High.

In a game of big swings, however, the Panthers would have the final say and responded late to pull out a hard-fought 45-39 win.

“Resilience,” is how McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis described both teams’ performance. “Both teams showed a lot of heart and guts answering each team’s runs tonight.”

The Panthers opened up a 21-0 lead before the Crusaders went on a 13-0 run of their own and the visitors trailed 23-15 at halftime.

The SB boys then outscored the Panthers 19-4 in the third quarter to pull ahead, before the home team re-discovered their swagger to pull out the come-from-behind win.

“Credit to coach Davis and his squad’s defense in the first quarter,” St. Bernard’s assistant coach Pat Shanahan said. “They held us scoreless and we just couldn’t buy a bucket.”

The Panthers, however, were unable to make the fast start stick as the Crusaders grew into the game.

“As much as we tried to build off a great start, (SB head coach Issac) Gildea and his squad really stepped up and punched us square back in the teeth with their own 29-3 run,” Davis said. “Truly felt like a heavyweight bout tonight.”

Cole Armstrong scored a team-high 18 points in the win and teammate Bode Douglass added 14 points, as the Panthers improved to 15-7.

Both of those team leaders stepped up big time late in the game to key the late comeback, with Douglass scoring 12 of his points in the fourth quarter, including three big 3s, and Armstrong dunking twice in the period off big passes from teammate Neil Moon.

“Cole and Bode really showed some true leadership in the fourth tonight, converting on shots and strong finishes inside,” Davis said. 

Moon and teammate Gaelen Creighton each also impressed their coaches and “battled hard,” according to Davis.

So too did the visitors.

“We responded,” Shanahan said. “This is a mature and smart team. We battled back and took a seven-point lead into the fourth with energy and defense.

“Ultimately, they got hot in the fourth and made shots and that was the difference in the game.”

Prince Latimer scored a team-high 13 points for the Crusaders, who dropped to 14-4, while Liam Dyer added 11 points and Garrett Shanahan finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

Tyler Hinrichs also had 10 rebounds for St. Bernard’s.

“Prince’s energy on both sides of the ball helped us tremendously,” Pat Shanahan said. “Garrett was aggressive offensively. Tyler battled and played tough, especially on the glass, and Liam played smart all around.”