Cody Whitmer was ready to go on Thursday night.

The former McKinleyville Panther nailed five 3-pointers in the first five minutes of College of the Redwoods’ opening game at the Ed Boyle Invitational tournament at Mendocino College to help lead his team to a 95-85 win over Sacramento City College.

With the win, the CR men improved to 4-2.

“We did need some time to settle in early, and Cody’s hot start kept us afloat in those moments,” CR head coach Justin Claus said. “Cody’s shot-making to start the game saved us from a beginning we would have remembered for our lack of of defensive focus.

“His burst bought us time to figure out what we needed to do defensively.”

The red-hot Whitmer finished the game with 27 points.

Marcos Rosales also impressed for Redwoods as he continued his fast start to the new season and added 20 points, while Fortuna’s Alfonso Medina finished with 17 points.

The physical and closely-contested game was a good early-season challenge for the first-year head coach and his players.

“Sac City forced us to compete physically for all 40 minutes,” Claus said. “They looked for heavy contact on their drives and our guys had to absorb that contact while keeping their hands shown to officials on every possession.”

Claus feels his team took a nice step forward with the performance.

“This was a big step for our group,” he said. “Our ability to absorb contact and stay disciplined defensively shows we’re growing into the level of physicality these games demand. We’re really proud of our guys for how they responded.”

With the win, Redwoods advances in the winners’ bracket of the tournament and sets up an early-season showdown against conference rival College of the Siskiyous on Friday evening at 5 p.m.