Neil Moon and the McKinleyville Panthers continued to roll with a thrilling overtime win at Ukiah on Saturday afternoon, while later in the day the Eureka Loggers handed the St. Bernard’s Crusaders their first loss since early December.

Moon hit a buzzer-beating basket to lead the Panthers to 61-60 win over the Wildcats in non-conference action at Mendocino College as the Big 5 leaders continued their impressive season.

And they won despite battling sickness and injuries throughout the squad.

“Did a nice job playing through a lot of adversity today,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. “Definitely the most physical game of our season and down four players due to illness or injury.”

With the win, the Panthers improved to 15-7 on the season.

The big story of the day, however, came in front of a packed house at Jay Willard Gymnasium as the host Loggers did what no other team has managed since Dec. 6, knocking off their crosstown rivals 63-48.

It was a great response for a determined Eureka team that had lost five of its previous seven games but came ready to play against an SB team that most people consider to be the best in the area right now.

“St. Bernard’s is obviously a very good team,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said. “I think our guys were prepared tonight, and it showed early in the game.”

The loss ended a 16-game winning streak for St. Bernard’s, which dropped to 18-2.

“Eureka took us out of what we wanted to do,” St. Bernard’s head coach Pat Shanahan said. “(Head) coach Jimmy (Rodgers) and his staff did a great job preparing their team to play tonight.

“We did not do good enough adjusting to how the game was being played. That is usually one of our strengths and we did not get it done.”

Xavier De La Rosa had another big game in the win and scored a game-high 21 points.

The junior is enjoying an outstanding season for the Loggers, and more impressively he is doing so at both ends of the floor.

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

“His ability to defend and still be an offensive threat for us is a rare combination,” DeHart said.

It was a balanced team performance for the home team, with four different players finishing in double digits in scoring.

In addition to De La Rosa’s big night, Ryder Mitchell added 12 points, Eddie Gonzalez had 11 points and Kyle Giacone finished with 10 points.

For good measure, Owen Hiscox also had eight points for Eureka, including two 3-pointers.

“We played offensively our best team basketball and the stat sheet shows that,” DeHart said.

The Eureka players did a good job sharing the ball and making the right decisions.

Garrett Shanahan scored a team-high 18 points for the Crusaders and added 10 rebounds for a double-double, while teammate Liam Dyer finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and Trenten Hagler had seven points and three assists.

The Crusaders were playing without injured guard Prince Latimer.

With the win, the Loggers improved to 12-10.

“We will learn from this loss,” Pat Shanahan said.

McKinleyville 61, Ukiah 60, OT

Henry Turner scored a team-high 16 points for the Panthers, while Moon and Bode Douglass each added 13 points and Ray Turner chipped in eight points.

According to Davis, the bounces weren’t going the Panthers’ way in the second half, but they did enough down the stretch to force the overtime period before sealing a thrilling victory in overtime.

With Ukiah leading by one and threatening late in the extra period, the Mack defense stepped up to get a big stop, before Moon delivered a clutch basket right as time expired.

Check out video highlights of the game-winning play above …

Ray Turner and Henry Turner both made some clutch free throws late in overtime to keep their team in contention on a day the Panthers were playing without key players Pat Wilson and Thomas Brown.

“We had to have more guys step up on the boards and Gaelen (Creighton), Henry and James Fike did a good job playing physically down low,” Davis said. 

Miles Day also had a good day for the visitors, making his presence felt in the paint.

“He also made a nice patient up and under move in the key for a short jumper,” Davis said of the junior. “Overall, it was a big one-day road trip for our guys and they continue to grow well together.”