Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com St. Bernard’s Amaiyah Her drives the ball up court during Saturday’s game at Arcata.

The St. Bernard’s girls improved to 3-1 against Big 5 teams with a statement win at Arcata in non-league basketball on Saturday night.

The Crusaders turned in arguably their best performance of the season in what was a key game for playoff positioning, holding the Tigers to just five points for the opening 10 minutes and running out to a comfortable 61-41 win.

Head coach Matt Tomlin was in no doubt about the quality of his team’s performance and the intensity and focus they brought to such a key game.

“That was our best performance of the season,” he said. “The girls played amazing. So proud of these ladies. It’s a wonderful group to coach.”

The Tigers began to settle down offensively in the second quarter, thanks in large part to their 3-point shooting, but the early deficit would prove to be too much to overcome.

Laila Florvilus continued her outstanding season for the visitors and scored a game-high 30 points, while teammate Madelyn Shanahan finished with 17 points.

Nora Talty led the home team with 14 points, while Leitala Vainuku added 10 points.

The loss was the fourth in five games for the Arcata girls, who dropped to 9-6 on the season.

The game was also important for playoff positioning between two Division-4 teams.

The Crusaders came into the game as the No. 4 Division-4 team in the North Coast Section, according to MaxPreps, while the Tigers were No. 7.

The SB girls have also beaten Del Norte and Fortuna this season and their only loss against Big 5 opposition was against McKinleyville.

Next up, the Arcata girls will try to bounce back they travel to play McKinleyville in Big 5 action on Tuesday night, while St. Bernard’s hosts Hoopa on Thursday in the Little 4.