Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Amaiyah Her in action for St. Bernard’s on Friday night.

By Ray Hamill — Hoopa Valley gave the Crusaders all they could handle for much of Friday night’s Little 4 opener for both teams at St. Bernard’s, but the home team prevailed 60-43.

Lele Tanuvasa scored a game-high 28 points to lead the way for St. Bernard’s, which improved to 1-0 in the Little 4 and 7-2 overall.

The game was the first for both teams in a few weeks.

“It was good to be back out there,” St. Bernard’s head coach Augie Valdez said. “But we’ve still got a lot to do to get back to the level we were playing at before the break.”

The Warriors matched the Crusaders early in the game and led by a point early in the second quarter.

The home team, however, would go on a 13-0 run to close out the half and led 34-20 at the interval.

The second half was evenly matched with the Crusaders barely getting the better of exchanges.

“They just played with so much heart and really kicked our butts on the boards,” Valdez said of Hoopa. 

Hoopa’s Tatianna Colegrove

Emma Wilson

Emma Wilson added 13 points in the win, while Amaiyah Her had another strong all-around game and “was just all over the place tonight,” Valdez said.

Harmony Nelson led a balanced offensive performance for the Warriors and finished with a team-high 11 points, while teammate Tartianna Colegrove finished with nine points.

With the loss, the Warriors dropped to 0-1 in the Little 4 and 1-8 overall.

Hoopa’s Taylor Cole finished chipped in seven points and Ivy Lamebear six.