Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The McKinleyville Panthers played in the championship game of their own Tip-Off Classic on Saturday afternoon.

The McKinleyville boys continued their preparation for upcoming league play with a good showing at their own Tip-Off Classic in basketball over the weekend.

The Panthers won their opening two games to reach the championship game, where they fell to a strong Cardinal Newman 55-49.

The McKinleyville girls were also in action at Arcata’s Tahnia Campbell Classic over the weekend, and they also won two of their three games, including a 51-25 victory over Emerald in Saturday’s third-place matchup.

Both McKinleyville coaches were happy with a lot of what they saw from their respective teams and felt they took some positive early-season steps.

“Our guys really stepped up to a tough challenge (on Saturday) and put us in a position to beat a very good team,” Mack boys head coach Chris Davis said. “Seeing us compete like this early in the season is a great momentum builder moving forward.

“Obviously it wasn’t the result we wanted, but we learned a lot about our team to take the next step.”

Henry Turner scored a team-high 14 points for the hosts, while Jeremiah Smith and Lucas Jones each added 10 points.

Turner and Smith hit some clutch shots at key moments to answer runs by the Cardinals and keep their team in contention, while Jones gave the Panthers a spark off the bench and “continues to grow at the varsity level,” according to Davis.

Henry Turner and Ray Turner were both named to the all-tournament team for McKinleyville.

The loss was the first of the season for the 4-1 Panthers, while Cardinal Newman improved to 5-1.

Cosumnes Oaks placed third at the tournament and Analy won the consolation game.

The McKinleyville girls, meanwhile, closed out the Arcata tournament with a good performance, bouncing back from a Friday night loss to the hosts.

Freshman Avery Bartoo capped a good few days in tournament play with an impressive performance and finished with 17 points four steals and four rebounds.

Sophomore Olivia Murphy also impressed for a young McKinleyville team and added eight points on a perfect shooting performance, while junior Lili Loomis and freshman Cabella Carper each chipped in six points.

Bartoo helped set the tone for the Panthers after a slow start for the team.

“It took us a minute to get going,” McKinleyville head coach Alisha Hunter said. “Bartoo really lit the spark that seem to get the team rolling.”

The Panthers also defeated Ukiah 52-40 in their tournament opener on Thursday night, before falling to Arcata 72-43 in Friday’s semifinal.

“Proud of my team and all their accomplished this weekend,” Hunter added.

The Mack girls will play at Healdsburg’s Redwood Empire Invitational this week.