File photo

The McKinleyville Panthers continued to challenge themselves ahead of conference play with another tough game on Saturday.

The McKinleyville boys traveled to Piedmont to complete a two-game weekend road trip and lost 65-50.

The defeat was the third straight and fifth in their last seven games, but all five of those losses have come against top-30 teams in the North Coast Section.

Also in action on Saturday, the St. Bernard’s boys capped a big road trip to Arizona with a 72-52 win over Queen Creek out of Arizona in the championship game of the Nike TOC.

The win was the 10th straight for the SB boys, who improved to 12-1.

The Ferndale girls were also in action at the West Valley tournament and split a pair of Saturday games, beating Pierce 52-21 before losing to Shasta 58-40.

On Saturday night, the Del Norte boys beat Elmira 49-39 in the championship game at the Bandon tournament, while the Eureka girls got the better of Timberline 57-45 in non-tournament action at Jay Willard Gymnasium.

The Mack boys have struggled in terms of wins and losses in recent weeks, but they still appear to be one of the frontrunners for this year’s Big 5 championship and a challenging early-season schedule should help prepare them for conference play, which tips off next week.

On Friday night, they fell 53-43 at Marin Academy, and followed that with a 15-point loss to the Highlanders, who are ranked three spots ahead of McKinleyville in the MaxPreps rankings at No. 30.

“We took good strides in our defensive rebounding efforts and transition defense, but we still need to be tougher with the ball and cherish every single possession,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. 

Henry Turner capped a big couple of days with a team-high 23 points in the loss, but no other McKinleyville player scored more than six.

Ray Turner added six points, while Jeremiah Smith chipped in five points.

For the second straight night, senior Pat Wilson had a good game on the boards, as did junior teammate Gaelen Creighton.

“Henry was solid all weekend and continues to lead by example,” Davis said. “Gaelen and Pat both did well this weekend on the boards for us, leading the charge in securing that area of concern for us the past two games.”

Davis added that he believes the two weekend games will help his players prepare for conference play, with the Panthers set to host Eureka in a pivotal Big 5 showdown on Tuesday night.

“We had some big challenges today and yesterday and came up short on the scoreboard,” the McKinleyville head coach said. “However, going into league these games were great to keep pushing this group.

“How we approach practice on Monday will be a big indication on who we are as a team.”

With Saturday’s loss, the Panthers dropped to 9-6.

Tuesday’s big game is set for 7:30 p.m.

Submitted photo – The Del Norte boys celebrate their tournament championship on Saturday night.

Del Norte 49, Elmira 39

It’s been a good season so far for the Del Norte Warriors, who clinched a third tournament championship at Bandon on Saturday.

The Warriors, who also defeated South Umpqua and Siuslaw on Thursday and Friday, improved to 13-4 on the season as they get set for their Big 5 opener at home against Arcata on Tuesday night.

Damian Escalera and Ty Blue were both named to the all-tournament team for the Del Norte boys, who started fast and led by 15 points after the opening quarter.

However, the Falcons would claw their way back with a big second-half rally and pulled within three late in the game.

But the Crescent City boys enjoyed the better of the late exchanges and held on for the win.

“We closed the deal at the end,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “It was a good overall team win. The kids played selfless.”

Escalera led the Warriors in scoring and finished with 18 points, while Blue continued his impressive sophomore season with nine points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

Sawyer Fry also impressed and added eight points and eight boards, while Justin Cushmann finished eight points and Rek Alameda chipped in six points.

“Rek had some important baskets,” Rice said. “He played well and had some good energy.”

Tuesday night’s big game is set for 7:30 p.m.

Girls

Eureka 57, Timberline 45

The Loggers returned to action for the first time in two weeks and took care of business against Timberline out of Washington.

The Blazers were in the county for a pair of games, having also lost to Fortuna on Friday night.

The Eureka girls, who led wire to wire, improved to 9-4 with the win, as they get set to host McKinleyville in their Big 5 opener on Wednesday night.

Junior Tiarah Maualuga led the Eureka girls in scoring and finished with 16 points, while Nashya Williams continued her impressive senior season with 15 points.

“Shy played well at both ends and did well on the boards,” said Eureka head coach Cliff Napoleon, who added that Maualuga “really was a presence for us in the post.”

The coach also used the occasion to give all of his players plenty of game time, with every player playing at least six to seven minutes in their final conference tune-up.

Playing against a young Timberline team that is coached by former Fortuna Husky Gary Viggers, the Loggers started well and opened up a 15-9 lead after the opening quarter.

They took their foot off the gas a little in the second quarter but still managed to add to their advantage, stretching the lead to eight (29-21) before halftime.

“We faltered in the second,” Napoleon said. “We made some mental mistakes and took it easy on defense, which has been the norm with this team.

“In the second half, we turned up the pressure on defense and found our footing on offense.”

The Loggers outscored the visitors 20-5 in the third quarter as they began to pull away, and they led 49-26 going into the fourth quarter.

Ferndale 52, Pierce 21

Shasta 58, Ferndale 40

The Wildcats closed out the West Valley tournament with a pair of games on Saturday.

After falling to the host school in their tournament opener on Friday night, the Cats responded with a nice win over Pierce on Saturday morning, before falling to Shasta later in the day and closing out tournament play 1-2.

The Cats, who will tip off the Little 4 at St. Bernard’s next Friday, are now 11-5.

Tinnley Pidgeon scored a team-high 19 points against Pierce, while teammates Michaela Ellsmore and Madison Gossi finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Ellsmore and Gianna Regli both scored a team-high 12 points against Shasta, while Pidgeon added 11 points.

“We ran into a buzzsaw called Shasta,” Ferndale head coach Chris Ardrey said. “I think they saved their best for us.”

The Wolves, who went 2-1 in tournament play and are now 6-7 on the season, shot lights out from downtown and finished with 11 3-pointers in the the win.

A somewhat disappointing offensive performance didn’t help matters for Ferndale.

“Scoring 40 points against a bigger school is not going to cut it,” Ardrey added. “We missed a lot of easy buckets in the first half.”

Despite the two losses this weekend, the Cats will carry some momentum into the Little 4 after an impressive December that saw them win 10 of their 13 games.

Pidgeon had a big weekend and was named to the all-tournament team, while Regli also impressed over the three games.

“A bright spot for us was Tinnley Pidgeon,” the Ferndale coach said. “She was all over the place on both sides of the ball. She did great.

“And Gianna Regli had a great couple of days too on defense.”

Next up, the Wildcats will host Fortuna in their final conference tune-up on Tuesday night in a matchup between the Nos. 22 and 23 teams in the NCS.

The Huskies are ranked one spot ahead of their neighbors.