By Ray Hamill — The Eureka Loggers wasted no time bouncing back from Friday night’s disappointing loss in their Big 5 decider at Arcata High by winning their Dick Niclai tournament opener on Tuesday night.

The Eureka girls welcomed conference rivals McKinleyville to Jay Willard Gymnasium and won 44-36 to advance to Thursday night’s semifinals at College of the Redwoods.

Tiara Maualuga was hugely influential in the win and scored a team-high 17 points while making her presence felt in the paint at both ends of the floor.

So too did McKinleyville senior Tatum Fisher, who was outstanding once again and also scored a team-high 17 points for the Panthers.

Fisher scored 11 of her team’s 13 points in the second quarter to get the Panthers offense going after a slow start saw them score just two points in the first quarter.

Check out some of our game highlights above, including another solid performance by McKinleyville freshman Lily Battilocchi, who looks set to enjoy a big career at the varsity level after quickly establishing herself as a key component of coach Jacob Cheek’s team.

For more on the game, see Loggers march on, set up big semifinal showdown against St. Bernard’s …

The loss ends the Panthers’ involvement in this year’s Dick Niclai tournament, but they will return to the court next week for the North Coast Section playoffs.

The section seeds and brackets will be announced on Sunday, with the action getting under way two days later.

The Loggers, meanwhile, will continue Niclai tournament action on Thursday night, when they face St. Bernard’s in a repeat of last year’s tournament championship, which went right down to the wire.

The Eureka girls won that game and claimed a fourth straight Niclai tournament championship.

However, the Crusaders got some payback in a regular-season showdown earlier this winter.

Thursday’s game is set for 7:30 p.m.

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com