Great Scott!

Chris Scott, right, of the Del Norte High boys basketball team and a Fortuna player go after the basketball during a Big 5 Conference game in Crescent City Thursday night. The Warriors won the game 46-41. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

It was far from a beauty contest on the basketball court Thursday night, but in the end, the Warriors came away with the crucial conference victory.

At home on senior night Del Norte High won 46-41 over the Fortuna Huskies in Big 5 Conference action.

After shooting lights out the past two games and winning by 34 and 27 points, Thursday’s contest was anther matter.

The Warriors struggled mightily from the floor, clanking shot after shot from outside and missing free throws, including five in the final quarter.

But senior post Chris Scott  helped to save the day with his play on both offense and defense.

On offense, Scott muscled his way inside for needed baskets and made crucial free throws towards the end to pace the team with 19 points.

Another key was the Warrior defense, which clamped down on the Huskies and gave up only nine first half points.

“It was great, ” Scott said about earning the win. “We are now two up,” in the Big 5.

Del Norte improved to 4-2 in the Big 5 and are 9-10 overall and are in the thick of the conference race while the Huskies sank to 1-6 in the Big 5 and 8-13 overall.

The Warriors are currently tied for second place in the Big 5 with McKinleyville.

Warrior head coach Scott Alexander said it was a great feeling to get the win despite not being able to hit shots.

He said this was a true Del Norte Warriors style of basketball  game, where great defense and inside play led the way.

“We have been hot lately but we didn’t shoot well tonight,” Alexander said. “We won because of Chris and our defense because everything else wasn’t very good.”

The game was not pretty from the start as shots kept smacking the rim, and turnovers and other miscues were rampant on both sides.

By the end of the first quarter the Warriors were up by a measly score of 6-4.

By the end of the half the Warriors had extended the lead to 18-9.

At  the start of the second half the Warriors got cold from the field and the Huskies started to heat up a little bit and took a 19-18 lead with under four minutes remaining in the third period.

At the end of the quarter Del Norte was up only 27-25. In the fourth quarter the game became a ping-pong type of affair as both teams exchanged baskets while the crowd got more vocal as the contest went into crunch time.

With Del Norte up 42-38 the Huskies drained a three-pointer with under a minute left to cut the lead to 42-41.

With 9.2 seconds left junior Nick McBride was fouled and went 1-for-2 to extend the lead to 43-41. Scott rebounded the missed  second shot, was fouled, and made both free throws. The Warriors made one more free throw at the end to seal the five-point victory.

McBride finished in double figures with 10 points. Scottie Skeen had seven points while Travis Stacey and Brandon Kakitsuka each had three points; Zach Hegelmeyer and Barrett McClaflin finished with two points each.

Thursday night was also senior night as members of the basketball, drill and cheerleading teams were honored before the game.

This year’s Warriors basketball seniors are Hegelmeyer, Michael Johnson,  Scott and Skeen.

Del Norte won the freshman game and cruised to a 53-34 victory in the junior varsity contest.

On Tuesday the Warriors face Arcata on the road. The Warriors end the regular season next Thursday at home against McKinleyville.