The McKinleyville Panthers had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They managed a 53-47 win over Del Norte. Given McKinleyville's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 342nd, while Del Norte is ranked 845th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
McKinleyville was led to victory by Nick Maher and Cole Armstrong. Maher dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds, while Armstrong dropped a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds. Armstrong set a new season high mark in assists with five. Flynn Creighton was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with six rebounds.
McKinleyville is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. As for Del Norte, they are on a six-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 6-10.
McKinleyville will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against Fortuna at 7:30 p.m. on January 4th. As for Del Norte, they will look to defend their home court on Thursday against Eureka at 7:30 a.m.
