By Ray Hamill — The smallest school in Big 5 is quickly establishing itself as the team to beat when it comes to the Dick Niclai Tournament.

On Friday night, a determined McKinleyville Panthers team came out fired up for the occasion and took care of business in this year’s championship game in front of a packed house at Lumberjack Arena, beating Little 4 champs St. Bernard’s 68-53.

The tournament championship is the second straight for the Panthers and their third in four years, and it caps a fantastic H-DNL season for the team, which also won a first-ever outright Big 5 title.

“Just for the program in general, there are a lot of people that put a lot of time into making it go,” McKinleyville head coach Chris Davis said. “From the coaching staff to the parents to the volunteers and players, it means a lot to all of us.

“This is the biggest opportunity in the county each year, and this is what these kids dream of.”

The loss was obviously a disappointing one for the Crusaders, who have been the best team in the area for much of the season and were hoping to end a 24-year wait for a second-ever Niclai title.

Both teams matched each other early in the game, but the Panthers began to put some distance between the two late in the opening quarter and would open up a sizable 40-20 lead late in the second.

The Crusaders closed out the half with a pair of 3-pointers to cut into the deficit and would regroup at halftime, coming out much stronger after the break.

But the gap was too much to overcome and the Panthers maintained a sizable advantage for most of the night.

“Credit to coach Davis and his team, as when we had hope and cut it to single digits, a couple of timely buckets on their end kept us at bay,” St. Bernard’s head coach Pat Shanahan said.

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

The Panthers succeeded with a balanced offense and a much-improved defensive performance from the last time these two teams played each other.

Bode Douglass, Neil Moon and Henry Turner each finished with 18 points in the win, but it was the team defense that really impressed the coach.

“I was super happy with our defensive effort,” Davis said. “Our defensive awareness was incredible tonight. It’s something we’ve been trying to practice and trying to get better at.

“I was just really happy with the way our guys locked in tonight and took it up a few notches.

“The defensive effort was just way better tonight. That was definitely the key tonight.”

Two players who made a huge difference at that end of the court were Gaelen Creighton and James Fike, who each thrived in the big-game atmosphere.

“The spark those two brought to the game …,” Davis said. “James doesn’t always show up in the scoring (stats) but he brings some hustle.

“And Gaelen always takes a huge defensive role for us.”

The Crusaders enjoyed the better of exchanges early in the second half and cut the deficit to nine midway through the third quarter, but the Big 5 champs closed out the period on an 8-3 run to stretch the lead back out to 14.

The Crusaders continued to battle in the fourth, pulling within seven points at one stage, but a 3-pointer by Turner quickly reestablished a double-digit lead and that was as close as the Little 4 school would come.

“We started the game off really well, got a lead and we all felt good on where we were going,” Shanahan said. “Then McKinleyville responded, and when we fell behind it seemed we started forcing some actions and that doesn’t work out well.

“Halftime our squad regrouped and came out strong in the third. I am very proud of our resolve and positivity, as they turned towards each other to get back into the game.”

Liam Dyer impressed in the loss and scored a game-high 19 points while also grabbing seven rebounds.

Teammate Carson Costa added 18 points and Trenten Hagler chipped in 10 points.

But the night belonged to the Panthers, who continue to set the standard in the Dick Niclai Tournament.

“Three of the last four, that’s pretty impressive,” said Davis, who has guided the team to the last two. “For the smallest school in the Big 5, I think it speaks highly of the community and the effort they are putting into basketball.”