Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Xavier De La Rosa in action for the Eureka Loggers on Thursday night.

The McKinleyville Panthers set up a mouthwatering clash against Arcata next week with a 53-41 win at Fortuna on Thursday night.

The win lifts the Panthers to 6-1 in the Big 5 with one game remaining, which will be against the conference leading Tigers (6-0) at Mack High on Tuesday.

But they may have to play without influential senior Cole Armstrong, who was ejected from Thursday’s game after a pair of technical fouls in the second quarter.

In the other Big 5 game on Thursday, the Eureka Loggers all but secured third place in the Big 5 and the conference’s final Dick Niclai tournament berth with a comfortable 79-57 win over Del Norte.

The points total for Eureka matches their season-high and follows a 75-point performance against South Fork on Monday.

And the two performances this week were a nice response to a three-game losing streak last week.

“We feel like we’re hitting our stride right when we need to,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said.

Will Mooney led the way for the Loggers and finished with a game-high 19 points, as well as five assists and four rebounds.

Mooney helped key a high-energy start for the Loggers, who knew they had to win this game to likely secure a Niclai berth.

“We were really, really happy with the way the players came out and started the game,” DeHart said. “There was a lot of energy from all 11 guys from the tip all the way through the game.”

Elijah Estrada also impressed for the Loggers and finished with 15 points, while sophomore Xavier De La Rosa continued his recent good form and added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Ryder Mitchell also had 10 points and seven rebounds for Eureka and Owen Hiscox chipped in six points, hitting two big 3-pointers in the second half to help keep the Warriors at arm’s length.

Eureka led by seven after the opening quarter and stretched the advantage to as many as 21 in the second quarter.

Lyon Rigden and Michael Webster each led the Warriors in scoring with 15 points apiece, but the team defense was unable to contain the Loggers.

“Rough defensive night for us,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “Can’t give up 80 points to any team.”

Sophomore Sawyer Fry added 12 points in his first start for Del Norte, while Aidan Rice had seven points and Kanyon Starkey and Ryan O’Laughlin each chipped in four points.

With the loss, the Warriors dropped to 1-6 in the Big 5 and 13-11 overall.

At Fortuna, meanwhile, the Panthers were tested by a Fortuna team that has matched up well in most of its conference games despite dropping to 0-6.

The Panthers had to overcome some adversity on their way to the win, including Armstrong’s early ejection and foul trouble for starting center Nick Maher.

But some of their teammates stepped up to the challenge in their absence to help keep McKinleyville’s title push on track.

“I was really proud of our bench tonight, as we handled some adversity and foul trouble throughout the night,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. “Each guy that went in there knew their role had expanded and was ready for the moment.”

Bode Douglass and Neil Moon in particular led the way.

Douglass scored a game-high 16 points, while Moon added 13 points.

“When you have these moments as a coach, you have to give guys the opportunity to step up as a leader, and Bode and Neil really took the horse by the reins tonight and led our guys to the finish line,” Davis said.

Henry Turner IV also stepped up for the conference contenders and added 10 points, while Maher chipped in five points in limited action.

Jake Houseworth led the Huskies with 15 points, while Jace Barsanti added nine points and Jack Stacy chipped in five despite battling an injury.

Hunter Reback also had four points for the home team.