Submitted photo – The St. Bernard’s girls celebrate their tournament championship in the snow at Mt. Shasta.

The St. Bernard’s boys and girls basketball teams both continued to roll on Saturday, as each won their championship games at the Mt. Shasta tournament.

The girls defeated Etna 45-44 and the boys got the better of West Valley 64-54, as both teams improved to 6-0 on the new season.

As girls head coach Augie Valdez said, the preseason is not about winning tournaments, it’s about getting better, but the Crusaders don’t mind winning while they get better.

And they got a little better with a big test on Saturday.

“Etna’s a very, very good team,” Valdez said. “They’re really physical they just crash the boards hard, and they run their stuff well.”

Lele Tanuvasa scored 15 points in the win and was named tourney MVP after another three impressive days, while freshman teammate Laila Florvilus scored 22 in the championship and was named to the all-tournament team.

Florvilus and sophomore teammate Amaiyah Her both were outstanding defensively, stepping up in the absence of senior Emma Wilson, who was sick and missed the tournament.

Florvilus and Her combined to hold Etna’s chief scoring threat to just eight points.

“They really stepped up big tine,” Valdez said of the young duo. “For being just a freshman and sophomore they did very well.”

The entire team defense played well.

“We were really able to take them out of what they do offensively,” the head coach added.

Tanuvasa continues to perform at a very high level despite being double teamed and the main focus for opposing teams, and her presence, along with teammate Madelyn Shanahan, is creating opportunities for their teammates

“She was getting the heck beat out of her, but her and Madelyn Shanahan, those two were so instrumental in us being able to match their bigs,” Valdez said.

Junior Mataya Sherman also had a big game and picked up some of the slack in the absence of Wilson, coming off the bench to help defend Etna’s chief scoring threat.

The St. Bernard’s girls will play at the McKinleyville tournament next week.

St. Bernard’s boys top West Valley

Sophomore Seth Dyer is having quite an impact early in the season for the St. Bernard’s boys.

On Saturday, Dyer was named MVP at the Mt. Shasta tournament after scoring 20 points to lead the Crusaders to a third win in three days.

Dyer, who also nailed a big-time late 3-pointer against Mt. Shasta on Friday, finished with three 3s on Saturday and scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half when his team needed them the most.

“That’s what a big-time player does,” said head coach Issac Gildea, who added that Dyer “is really making some shots.”

Drew Vizenor, who added eight points in the win, was named to the all-tournament team after playing some outstanding defense all tournament.

The consistent Owen Shanahan continued to be a force in the paint and added 12 points, as did point guard Peyton Smith, who was seeing his first action with the team and “was amazing this tournament” according to Gildea.

Demetrius Rawson also was playing his first tournament of the season and also had an immediate impact.

Aidan Dorsch scored eight points to round out a good team performance.

The head coach, however, wasn’t entirely happy with the performances of the weekend and says he is looking for his players to show more consistency and do the small things.

For good measure, Tanuvasa and Vizenor rounded out a dominating weekend at the tournament for the Crusaders by winning their respective tournament 3-point shootouts.