Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Tuesday’s game at Eureka.

After seeing their three-year reign as Big 5 champs end last week, the Eureka Loggers appear determined to defend their other title.

The four-time defending Dick Niclai tournament champions began the defense of their championship with a hard-fought 44-36 win over Big 5 rival McKinleyville at Jay Willard Gymnasium on Tuesday.

The win sets up a mouthwatering matchup in Thursday’s semifinal at College of the Redwoods against Little 4 champs St. Bernard’s, with many of the Crusaders in attendance on Tuesday checking out their next opponents.

But the Eureka girls had to battle against a determined McKinleyville team, which once again started the game slow but did not go down with a fight.

“Good team effort,” is how Eureka head coach Cliff Napoleon described his team’s performance.

It was a particularly good effort from standout sophomore Tiara Maualuga, who led the Loggers with a team-high 17 points.

After getting in foul trouble early in the second half, the dominating center had to sit out much of the third quarter and the Panthers made their move, narrowing a 10-point halftime deficit to just one (29-28) heading into the fourth.

But with Maualuga back on the court for the final period, the McKinleyville defense had no real answer for her.

“Tiara had a great game in the post,” Napoleon said. “But we gave up way too many second-chance points, so we need to work on that.”

Maualuga’s return to the court in the fourth immediately paid dividends and the Loggers began the period on an 8-0 run to widen the gap back out to nine.

The Panthers continued to battle after that and a Gabby Watson 3-pointer cut the deficit to five (41-36) with a minute remaining, but that was as close as the resilient Panthers would get.

“I was happy with how we fought,” McKinleyville head coach Jacob Cheek said. “Unfortunately some things didn’t go our way.

“Self inflicted wounds kept us out of this game and we can’t do that against a strong team like Eureka.”

Slow starts have been a problem for the Panther this season, especially against the better teams, and they were held to just two points in the opening quarter.

“I gotta do a better job of getting us mentally prepared for these games and put us in better positions to be successful,” Cheek added.

McKinleyville began to cut into a 10-point deficit in the second quarter, with the always-dangerous Tatum Fisher leading the way.

The senior standout finished with a team-high 17 points in the loss, including scoring 11 of the Panthers’ 13 second-quarter points to help kickstart their offense.

Mallorie Beauchamp added nine points for the Loggers, including a pivotal 3 late in the third quarter to end an almost six-minute scoreless spell for her team to start the second half.

Watson added seven points for the visitors, while teammate Bailee Box had six points, all of them in the third quarter to help key the second-half comeback.

“We were just trying to identify where Tatum was at all times, and ‘don’t lose Gabby on the back end,’” Napoleon added. “Tatum still ended up scoring (17) and Gabby with (seven), but you’re not going to hold good players to zero.”

Freshman Lily Battilocchi also had four points for the Panthers as she continues to quickly establish herself at the varsity level.

Ultimately, however, the Panthers were unable to bridge the gap and the defending champs march on.

Thursday’s semifinal is set for 7:30 p.m. with Ferndale and Arcata meeting in the other semifinal at 6 p.m.

Both semifinals will take place at College of the Redwoods.