File photo – The Ferndale Wildcats

The Ferndale Wildcats won a hard-fought battle at Hoopa on Monday night by a score of 37-36, as they got the defense of their Little 4 title off to a winning start in girls basketball.

The Cats defense gave up just four first-quarter points to a hot-shooting Warriors offense that had averaged 72 points in its previous five games.

And that proved to be the difference in a tight game, with Hoopa outscoring the visitors by one point in each of the remaining three quarters.

Carly Carmesin scored a game-high 12 points for the Ferndale girls, who improved to 1-0 in the L4 and 12-3 overall.

Emily Chavez and Reaghan Langer each added nine points in the win, while Kyla Albee chipped in seven, as the Cats responded well to a non-league loss at McKinleyville on Saturday.

The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Hoopa girls, who were coming off back-to-back tournament wins.

Tashee Tracy and Ivy Lamebear each a scored a team-high 11 points in the loss, while Tatianna Colegrove finished with six points.

The Warriors won three straight games at the Etna tournament last week.

Hoopa is now 0-1 in league and 6-8 overall.