File photos – The McKinleyville Panthers finished second in the Big 5.

The McKinleyville Panthers will be hoping to meet Del Norte once again in next week’s Charles Lakin tournament.

On Wednesday, they closed out the regular with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Arcata, a victory they hoped would help clinch a share of this year’s Big 5 championship.

However, with conference leaders Del Norte also winning at Eureka, the Panthers saw any hopes of a co-championship slip away despite their best efforts.

Both Del Norte and McKinleyville will now advance to next week’s H-DNL postseason tournament, with the Warriors receiving a top seed and a first-round bye, and the Panthers getting a No. 2 seed.

The Mack boys will open tournament play against Hoopa at Belotti Field in Eureka on Tuesday.

They had to fight all the way for the win on Wednesday.

Playing their biggest rivals with more on the line than usual, the Panthers plated what would prove to be the winning run in the top of the seventh.

Freshman Jake Brunner reached base on an error and advanced to scoring position on a bunt.

He would score one of the biggest runs of his young career moments later on a wild throw that sailed into the outfield.

The big story of the game, however, was the pitching, with McKinleyville’s Jackson Kelly and Arcata’s Ben Lukens matching each other stride for stride.

Kelly pitched a one-hitter in his final ever Big 5 game.

File photo – Ben Lukens

“It was two of the best pitchers in the league going against each,” McKinleyville head coach Mike Dobrec said. “Ben Lukens threw great. It was definitely a pitchers’ duel.”

Lukens saved his best for his team’s biggest rivals.

“I thought he was the sharpest he’s been all year,” Arcata head coach Troy Ghisetti said. “He controlled everything inside and out. He was everything I could ask for.”

Kelly finished with 13 strikeouts and Lukens had 11.

“It was a good close game,” Dobrec said. “We just made one less mistake than Arcata made. It was a good team win.”

Kelly helped his own cause by going 2-for-4 at the plate, while fellow senior Bryce sergeant also was 2-for-4 and hit a double.

McKinleyville’s Bode Reininger also had a base hit in the win.

Tanner Kees hit a double for Arcata’s only hit of the game.

“When you give a couple of errors to a good team they take advantage of it,” Ghisetti said. “McKinleyville’s a very good team and they stepped up, and that’s just the way the ball bounces sometimes.”

The Tigers, who missed out on this year’s Lakin tournament, will have next week off before they begin the North Coast Section playoffs the following week.