Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Laila Florvilus drives the ball up court during Thursday’s game at St. Bernard’s.

The two frontrunners in Little 4 girls basketball continued to roll on Thursday night, setting up the first of two huge showdowns between them in a week’s time.

At Ferndale, the Wildcats took care of business against the South Fork Cubs, winning 56-11, while the St. Bernard’s Crusaders comfortably defeated the Hoopa Warriors in Eureka by a score of 60-42.

Both Ferndale and St. Bernard’s are now 2-0 in league and will meet at St. Bernard’s next Thursday in a key game that will go a long way toward deciding the Little 4 championship.

The two schools will meet a second time at Ferndale on the final day of the regular season on Feb. 3.

Hoopa matched the SB girls early in Thursday’s game, but the home team began to exert its superiority late in the first quarter and led 36-20 at halftime.

Things didn’t get any better for the Warriors after the interval, as the Crusaders stretched their lead to as many as 32 before clearing the bench and giving playing time to all 12 players.

Laila Florvilus continued to grow in stature and scored a game-high 28 points, as the high-flying Crusaders won for the seventh time in eight games to go to 13-2.

Madelyn Shanahan added 11 points and Aliyah Vigil finished with seven points.

Tatianna Colegrove paced the Warriors offense with 19 points, while Harmony Nelson finished with seven points and Tashee Tracy six.

The loss was the second straight in league play for the Warriors, who dropped to 0-2 in the L4 and 6-9 overall.

Next up, the Crusaders will play a non-league game at McKinleyville on Saturday night, while Hoopa will try to bounce back in a no-league game at Eureka on Monday.

The Cats kept pace with the Crusaders with their second league win in four days.

Reaghan Langer led a balanced performance that saw four Ferndale players score in double digits, finishing with 13 points as well as six rebounds and a block.

Teammate Kyla Albee had a double-double, finishing with 13 boards and 11 points, as well as six assists, four blocks and a pair of steals, while Emily Chavez had 12 points, three rebounds and two steals.

Carly Carmesin also had good game and finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Rounding out a solid team performance, Tia Henrickson had four points, three rebounds and two steals; Clara Albee had three points and a steal; and Clara Christiansen had three rounds, three steals, two points and an assist.

The win was the third straight for the Wildcats, who improved to 14-3 and won’t play again before next week’s big game at SB.

The South Fork Cubs are now 0-2 in league and 3-8 overall.