Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

While Arcata’s Luke Lemke was exploding for 51 points against Fortuna on Thursday night, the McKinleyville Panthers took over sole possession of top spot in the Big 5.

Lemke stole the headlines with a dominating performance in a 71-53 win at Arcata High, enjoying a career game and giving Arcata fans a night they will remember for years to come.

But the Panthers also had a good night, traveling to Crescent City and coming away with a 61-52 win that lifts them to 2-0 in the Big 5 and gives them sole possession of the early conference lead.

The Little 4 teams tipped off conference play with a pair of games.

Defending champion St. Bernard’s was in action at Ferndale and won 71-50, while Hoopa traveled to South Fork and won a tight battle 62-60.

Henry Turner and Neil Moon led the way offensively for the Panthers, who made it two conference wins in three days to go to 11-6 overall.

Turner scored a game-high 18 points, while Moon added 17 points.

But it was the team defense, and particularly the play of Ray Turner, that proved to the catalyst in the victory.

“Ray Turner spearheaded a great overall defensive effort by our team,” McKinleyville assistant coach Harlan LeRoux said. “His energy, along with James Fike and Lucas Jones, helped us turn defense to offense.”

Moon also was instrumental in the win, as he continues to play a key role for the Mack boys with some exceptional ball handling.

“Neil Moon led our offense tonight with some elite point guard play,” LeRoux added. “He hit some huge shots in the third quarter and did not commit a turnover the whole game. We are extremely proud of his leadership and composure.”

Bode Douglass added nine points in the win, while Ray Turner chipped in eight points.

For Del Norte, the loss was a disappointing one coming just two days after the emotional high of a big win over Arcata on a buzzer beater.

“I’ve got to give McKinleyville a lot of credit,” Del Norte head coach Cris Rice said. “It was tight at halftime and tight in the third, and then Moon kind of went off. They shot very well in the second half.”

Ty Blue led the Warriors with 15 points and also had six blocks and five rebounds, while teammate Damian Escalera finished with 13 points.

Kanyon Starkey also impressed and added nine points and 10 boards, while Sawyer Fry had five rebounds and four assists.

However, the Warriors made just 5 of 23 3-point attempts and shot a poor 56 percent from the line.

“That’s an un-winnable stat line,” Rice said. “We just couldn’t make free throws.”

With the loss, the Warriors dropped to 1-1 in conference and 14-5 on the season.

In the Little 4, meanwhile, the St. Bernard’s boys continued to roll as they stretched their winning streak to 11 straight games and improved to 13-1 overall.

But they had to battle.

“Ferndale sure plays hard,” SB head coach Pat Shanahan said. “They hustle and work to get boards and tested our ability to box out.”

The St. Bernard’s players once again did a good job sharing the ball.

“We did a nice job passing the ball and hit 20 assists again as a team,” Shanahan said. “Basketball is so much more fun to play and watch when guys are cutting and the ball is being passed. 

“As a result we had a fairly balanced box score in a number of stat columns.”

Carson Costa scored a team-high 18 points in the win, while Prince Latimer finished with 12 points, three assists and three steals.

Liam Dyer also had a good all-around game and finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

“Carson is an incredibly good scorer,” the St. Bernard’s coach said. “He did it again tonight, inside and out.

“Prince ran the offense and spread the ball around, setting the tone.”

Garrett Shanahan also had a big night and came within a rebound of a double-double, finishing with 11 points and nine boards, while the consistent Tyler Hinrichs chipped in eight points and 11 rebounds.

“Tyler rebounded the ball really well,” said Pat Shanahan, who added “Liam and Garret had excellent all-around games.”

Next up, the Crusaders will play at Trinity in non-conference action on Saturday.

“It was important to start league off with a win,” Pat Shanahan said. “Now we look forward to Trinity High on Saturday.”

No stats were immediately available for the Wildcats.

Coaches are encouraged to forward details of their games to Humboldt Sports if they would like to have their players included in our roundups.