File photo – The Crusaders have secured a spot in this year’s NorCal tournament.

It was a good night for the Little 4 in the North Coast Section Division-6 playoffs on Saturday, with South Fork and St. Bernard’s both advancing to the semifinal round and still on course for a championship showdown next weekend.

The Cubs, who are seeded No. 1, defeated No. 8 Rio Lindo Adventist 59-39 in Miranda, while No. 2 St. Bernard’s got the better of No. 10 Mendocino 82-45 in Eureka.

Both L4 rivals, who split a pair of league games this season, will now host semifinals on Wednesday night, with the Cubs playing No. 4 Valley Christian and the Crusaders playing No. 3 San Francisco Waldorf.

Regardless of the outcome, both St. Bernard’s and South Fork will now advance to the NorCal tournament after the NCS playoffs.

The Big 5 teams did not fare quite as well in the Division-4 bracket on Saturday. No. 5 McKinleyville fell 55-38 at No. 4 Justin-Siena, while No. 6 Del Norte lost to No. 3 University 70-46 at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco.

Jack Clancy scored a team-high 16 points for Mack, while Cody Whitmer added seven points and Owen Hamm six.

John Harding led the way for the Cubs, scoring a team-high 12 points to go with five assists and four steals.

“He was everywhere doing everything,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said. 

Tommy Rotbergs also continued to impress in the win, scoring 11 points and going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, while Shevy Bero added nine points, including a couple of big 3s, and was “great all game,” according to Morrow.

The Cubs depth was too much for the visitors. “Our bench was the big factor,” Morrow said. “They were able to execute and bring the right level of effort.” Drew Vizenor continued to be a force for the Crusaders and scored a game-high 24 points in his team’s win.

“He just does everything right,” head coach Issac Gildea said of the senior guard. “From rebounding, assisting, communicating, he’s just a coach’s dream out there.”

The entire team came to play, and Gildea was able to give a lot of players plenty of game time.

“We came out and played with some good defensive intensity and fed off a good crowd,” he said. 

Demetrius Rawson also had a big game, particularly on the boards, while scoring 15 points.

“He was like Dennis Rodman out there tonight,” Gildea said. “It was really fun to watch him play tonight.”

Seth Dyer chipped in 10 points in the win, while Peyton Smith and Owen Shanahan each had eight points and Julian Sundberg had six points.