The Panthers varsity girls and boys basketball teams each won at Chowchilla on Friday night to stay on top of the North Sequoia League standings.

The girls, led by double-doubles from Lexi Blue and Samantha Mendoza, won 39-32.

Akili Arnold scored 19 points to lead the boys to a 49-34 win.

Both teams are 2-0 in the NSL heading into their next games, at home Tuesday (girls) and Wednesday (boys) against Yosemite and Friday (all) Homecoming against Sierra.

In Friday’s girls game, the Panthers never trailed, building a lead as big as 10 points. Mendoza scored all 11 of her points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter, to help repel the Redskins.

Blue added 11 rebounds and Mendoza 10 for their double-doubles. Marry Aphay (nine points) and Latique Walton (eight) were the only other Panthers to score.

“On a night when our shots weren’t falling, our defense won us the game,” said coach Annie Taylor. “Chowchilla is a tough environment to play in, but our team kept playing hard and didn’t let anyone get in our heads.”

Taylor singled out Walton for her defense against Chowchilla point guard Mackenzie Mangrum, who was held to three points.

In the boys game, the Panthers nursed leads of 15-14 at halftime and 26-23 after three quarters before Chowchilla jumped ahead 28-26 to start the fourth.

From there, Arnold made a three-pointer and center DeAndre Dickson converted a three-point play and an inside basket to start a Panthers run. Arnold scored eight in the fourth and Dickson added seven of his total nine points. Jose Rivas helped seal it with the last six Panthers points of the game including 4-of-4 free throw shooting.

The Panthers JV teams both lost. The boys held Chowchilla scoreless in the fourth quarter, rallying from a 15-point deficit, but lost 32-30. The girls lost 41-19.

Boys JV coach John Hetherington said, “As disappointing as the first three quarters were, the fact that we held them to zero points in the fourth quarter with plenty of chances to win was very encouraging. I think we’re better for it in the long run.”

Girls JV coach Angel Larios said, “Our girls continue to play hard. When we put a whole game together, we’ll see results in the win column.”

Varsity girls

Washington 39, Chowchilla 32

Washington (7-8, 2-0) 8 4 13 14 – 39

Chowchilla                       2 8 14   8 – 32

W: Marry Aphay 9, Lexi Blue 11, Samantha Mendoza 11, Latique Walton 8.

C: Mackenzie Mangrum 3, Deanna Riberio 4, Stepphani Deathrage 10, Catrina Gaither 11, Cami Rosso 3, Brittany Hitchcock 1.

Varsity boys

Washington 49, Chowchilla 34

Washington (12-10, 2-0) 5 10 11 23 – 49

Chowchilla                            8   6    9 11  - 34

W: Jose Rivas 8, Josh Williams 3, Rance Hightower 8, DeAndre Dickson 9, Akili Arnold 19.

C: Terrance Olivia 2, Harjot Singh 19, Omar Misleh 2, Edgar Armenta 10, Kyle Kinsey 1.

JV boys

Chowchilla 32, Washington 30

Washington  8   6 3 13 – 30

Chowchilla  12 11 9  0 – 32

W: Deshawn Fletcher 14, Martin Renteria 11, Nick Santellano 5.

JV girls

Chowchilla 41, Washington 19

Washington 8  1    5 5 – 19

Chowchilla  6 18 14 9 – 41

W: Nou Yang 6, Brittany Granados 2, Denise DeLaTorre 7, Monica Serna 1, Amber Aguilar 3.