The Del Norte Warriors bounced back quickly from a conference-opening defeat to Arcata last week with a big defensive performance in a Big 5 girls basketball showdown at McKinleyville High School on Monday night.

The visitors held the home team to just 13 points over the second and third quarters combined on the way to a 44-36 win.

The victory lifts the Warriors to 1-1 in the Big 5 and 8-6  overall.

“(We) played great team defense,” Del Norte head coach Nick Perez said. “Didn’t rebound as well as we wanted, but got after it with on-the-ball pressure.”

The loss was the second in conference play for the Panthers, who dropped to 0-2 in the Big 5 and 10-7 overall.

There was little to separate the two schools early in the night and they went into the second quarter deadlocked 11-11.

But the Del Norte girls would start to take control of the game in the second quarter, holding the Panthers to six points for the period and carrying a four-point advantage into the break.

They continued to slowly pull away in the third, outscoring the Panthers 10-7 to lead by seven going into the fourth, and they were able to hold on down the stretch.

Jaylee Keeling finished the night with a game-high 20 points in the win and had a good night shooting from the perimeter.

The sharp-shooting sophomore guard nailed four 3-pointers.

Senior team leader Bliss Blackburn also impressed for the Warriors, finishing with 15 points, while teammate Josephine Antonetti added five points.

Liana Stumpf paced McKinleyville at the offensive end and scored a team-high 12 points, while sophomore teammate Olivia Murphy had a good all-around game and finished with 13 rebounds and five points.

Freshman Avery Bartoo also impressed for the hosts and added eight points and seven rebounds.

Both teams will continue conference play on Wednesday night.

Del Norte hosts Eureka and McKinleyville hosts Fortuna.

Each of those games tip off at 7:30 p.m.