File photo – The McKinleyville Panthers

The McKinleyville Panthers maintained their perfect start to the Big 5 in boys basketball with a hard-fought 53-52 win at Fortuna on Tuesday night, improving to 3-0 in conference and moving two wins clear of the chasing pack.

But they had to battle all night against a Fortuna team that came to play and almost pulled off the upset win against the conference frontrunners.

The big difference in the game were free throws, with the visitors nailing 18 of 21 for the game, including 12 of 14 in the fourth quarter, while the Huskies hit on just 7 of 18.

“We stayed in the game and went on a great run in the fourth due to great free-throw shooting, tenacious efforts on the defensive boards and clutch moments on the offensive end from Bode (Douglass) in the paint and Jeremiah (Smith) beyond the arc,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. 

The loss was the second in two Big 5 games for the Huskies, but the performance was a nice response after a disappointing 12-point loss to Ferndale in non-conference action over the weekend.

“My boys showed up and played their butts off,” Fortuna head coach Norm Sotomayor said. “We defended well, especially in the first half.”

The Huskies certainly did, containing McKinleyville standouts Henry Turner and Neil Moon — two of the best players in the Big 5 — for much of the night.

“When Moon and Henry combine for seven points you are doing something right,” Sotomayor added.

Several other players stepped up for the visitors, however, especially late in the game.

Douglass and Smith led the Panthers with 15 and 14 points, respectively, including four big 3-pointers by the latter.

Will Shaw scored a team-high 13 points for the Huskies, while teammate Kye Hawthorne added 12 points.

Rawland Bones also impressed for the home team and finished with nine points, while Jack Stacy chipped in seven points.

“I’m proud of how we responded after a tough couple games,” said Sotomayor, whose team is now 6-13 overall.

Ray Turner added nine points for the Panthers, who answered the call late in what was a difficult game.

“Proud of our team for responding well in the second half and chipping away at their lead,” said Davis, who also praised the performance of the Fortuna players.

“Credit to Norm and his guys, as they really brought it tonight,” he added. “They played hard and really physical to take our guys out of our rhythm.”

With the win, the Panthers improved to 12-6 overall.

“Nights like this you’re happy to get a road win and it’s on to the next one,” Davis said.

Next up, on Thursday night, the Big 5 action continues with McKinleyville hosting Arcata, and Fortuna hosting Eureka.

File photo – The Fortuna Huskies