Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Thursday night’s game at McKinleyville High.

By Ray Hamill — Many local basketball fans felt the race for this year’s Big 5 boys championship was going to be wide open when conference play began earlier this month.

But two weeks into the B5 schedule, one team is taking control and sits firmly in the driver’s seat halfway though its conference campaign.

On Thursday night, the McKinleyville Panthers rolled to a 66-51 win over the Arcata Tigers, improving to 4-0 in the Big 5 and 13-6 overall.

In the other B5 game on Thursday, the Eureka Loggers kept their championship hopes alive with a 69-58 win at Fortuna, improving to 2-1 in the Big 5 and 11-8 overall.

But the big story early in conference play has been the McKinleyville Panthers, who have now gotten the better of all four of their Big 5 opponents by a combined 30 points.

And playing in front of their home fans in a packed gymnasium with a great atmosphere, they showcased exactly why they are now considered firm favorites to win this year’s title.

“Really good team win tonight,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. “We played a lot of guys and felt like each player made an impact and had great moments.”

The loss was a tough one for the four-time defending Big 5 champion Tigers, who have struggled over the past few weeks and have now dropped nine of their last 11 games.

“We just weren’t good enough offensively,” said Arcata head coach Kellen Maynard, whose team dropped to 1-2 in the Big 5 and 7-13 overall. “We weren’t aggressive enough when opportunities were there.”

The game was close early on and the two schools were tied 21-21 two minutes into the second quarter.

The Panthers, however, would grow into the game and went on an 11-0 run to take a lead they would not relinquish.

They led by 14 at halftime and never appeared in danger of losing after that.

“After the first quarter I felt like we settled down, made smart aggressive attacks to the hoop and made the right decision to either finish or kick out to a shooter,” Davis said. “We had a ton of open looks from good shooters that didn’t fall, but they were in rhythm and quality shots.”

Henry Turner had a big night for McKinleyville and finished with a team-high 18 points, while teammate Neil Moon added 11 points and Thomas Brown chipped in eight points.

“Henry seemed to have a clutch 3 every time Arcata made a small run, giving us back the momentum,” Davis said. “While Lucas Jones, Thomas and James (Fike) made some great plays to kill that potential momentum as well.”

Fike finished with seven points. 

One week after a career night in which he scored 51 points against Fortuna, Arcata senior Luke Lemke finished with a game-high 25 points against McKinleyville, while fellow senior Jack Luh added 13 points on his return from an injury layoff.

Containing Lemke was obviously a priority for the Panthers and they did so with a group effort.

“We challenged Thomas, Gaelen (Creighton), Ray (Turner) and Patrick (Wilson) with guarding Lemke, and I was proud with all of them with how they approached their assignment,” Davis said “We were physical and nobody backed down.”

While the Panthers will enjoy a bye in conference play next Tuesday, on the same night the Tigers will try to bounce back and keep their Dick Niclai tournament and North Coast Section playoff hopes alive when they face a pivotal showdown at Eureka.

They need to win three of their final five conference games in order to be playoff eligible.

“Our goal right now is we have to finish a minimum of .500 in league,” Maynard said. “Tuesday is essentially our season. We have to find a way to win. We know that we have to come out and play with a sense of urgency.”

Despite the loss, Maynard was happy with his players’ collective effort.

“Unfortunately we just didn’t answer the bell tonight,” he said. “But we played hard all night, and I’m proud of them for that.”

The McKinleyville freshmen and JVs also won their games against their biggest rivals on Thursday, leaving all three Mack teams a perfect 4-0 halfway through their conference schedules.

Eureka 69, Fortuna 58

The Loggers made it two straight Big 5 wins to keep their title hopes well on track.

Xavier De La Rosa continued to play at an MVP level for the Eureka boys, who took sole possession of second place in the conference standings.

The junior standout scored a game-high 22 points in the win, while teammate Ryder Mitchell also impressed and added 17 points, as the Loggers started fast again, something that was a goal for the game.

“We wanted to get off to a good start and set the tone,” Eureka assistant Andrew DeHart said. “Fortuna is a physical team and we wanted to match that physicality.”

Several Eureka players stepped up to the challenge and impressed in the victory, including senior Dominic Hardcastle.

“Dominic Hardcastle did an exceptional job in post defense off the bench,” DeHart said. “He kind of set the tone for us. Dominic came in and we felt he did a great job for us.”

So too did sophomore point guard Kyle Giacone, who added nine points in the win but contributed in more ways than that.

“He continues to just develop,” DeHart said of the young standout. “He’s being more aggressive offensively and it’s really opening up opportunities for players around him.”

With the loss, the Huskies dropped to 0-3 in the Big 5 and 6-14 overall, but there were some standout performances.

Most notably the continued strong play from Kye Hawthorne, who finished with a team-high 21 points.

“Kye Hawthorne was a bright spot on the boards and scoring around the rim,” Fortuna head coach Norm Sotomayor said of the junior. “He is becoming a force.”

Tanner Franklin also impressed for the Huskies and added eight points, while teammate Brandon Cruz chipped in seven points.

The Huskies, however, were unable to play at the level they did on Tuesday when they almost knocked off the Panthers.

“We did not play with the energy we did on Tuesday,” Sotomayor said. “We did not rotate well on defense, which resulted in trips to the foul line for the Loggers, where they converted.”

Owen Hiscox added 11 points for Eureka, while Eddie Gonzalez finished with eight points.

After opening conference play with a loss at McKinleyville early last week, the Loggers are beginning to find their rhythm again.

“This league is tough and any time you can get a win on the road it’s something to appreciate,” DeHart said. “We’re proud of how the guys played.”