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

Even without one of their best players, the McKinleyville Panthers showed us why they are the best team in the Big 5 right now.

On Thursday night, the McKinleyville boys began the second round of conference play at Eureka and won 69-54 to move within one win of at least a share of this year’s championship with three games remaining.

They put the game out of reach with a big third quarter, especially from downtown.

But it was the team performance that really impressed head coach Chris Davis, especially without influential senior Henry Turner in the lineup.

“Huge night for our boys, as they played one of their most complete ‘team ball’ games of the season on a night where Henry was out sick,” Davis said. “Everyone had a next-man-up mentality and played very unselfish ball tonight. It was fun to watch.”

With the win, which completed the conference sweep of Eureka, the Panthers improved to 5-0 in the Big 5 (14-7 overall), while the Loggers dropped to 2-3 and 11-10 and into a two-way tie with Del Norte for third.

The home team trailed by just seven at halftime, but the game began to get away from them after the break.

“It was very, very similar to the last matchup (with McKinleyville),” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “We felt we were right with them (at halftime). They started hitting those 3s and they got down court in transition.

“McKinleyville is a highly efficient team. They deserve a lot of credit.”

Neil Moon was particularly effective in the absence of Turner and scored a game-high 21 points in the win.

“Neil came to me before the game without any prompting and told me, ‘don’t worry coach, we got you,’” Davis said. “And that they did, while Neil played with fantastic poise and pace tonight.”

Ray Turner had 10 points, while Bode Douglass added nine points as he continues to play an ever-growing role on his return from a long injury layoff.

“Bode continues to improve getting back in the groove from his injury and played one of his best games of the season,” Davis added. “Great shot selection and timely passes throughout the night.”

Jeremiah Smith and Thomas Brown each added eight points in the win, while Gaelen Creighton played a key role on defense.

“Thomas Brown, Gaelen and Ray gave us some great spurts of defense throughout the game, while Jeremiah turned it up on the boards for us when we needed it most,” Davis said.

Xavier De La Rosa had another big night for the Loggers and has established himself as one of the most dangerous and consistent players in the Big 5 this winter.

The junior standout scored a team-high 20 points, while teammate Owen Hiscox added 14 points and Eddie Gonzalez chipped in eight points.

The Loggers kept pushing all the way to the final buzzer.

“Our guys are resilient. They keep fighting,” DeHart said.

Next up, both teams will play non-conference games on Saturday.

The Panthers travel to Ukiah to play the Wildcats at Mendocino College, while the Loggers will host crosstown rivals St. Bernard’s in an always anticipated matchup, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.