Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Hoopa’s Tatianna Colegrove

By Ray Hamill — It had been a long time coming and it may have saved their playoff hopes.

On Wednesday night, the Hoopa girls snapped a long losing streak on the basketball court with a 54-48 upset win over St. Bernard’s.

It was the Warriors’ first victory over their league rivals in 11 years, dating back to Feb. 2012, a stretch of 21 consecutive games.

The win, however, meant more than just that.

It not only secured the third and final Little 4 seed for next week’s Dick Niclai Tournament, but it should give the Hoopa some much-needed momentum heading into the H-DN postseason and North Coast Section playoffs.

Wednesday’s win, coupled with a victory at South Fork on Friday night, also ensures they will be playoff eligible.

To be eligible for the NCS tournament, a team must have at least a .500 record in league, or overall, or against teams within their NCS division.

The Warriors are 9-11 overall and have not played any other Division-5 NCS teams this winter, but they closed out league play 3-3 and that ensures they will be playoff eligible.

The Warriors are currently ranked No. 10 in NCS Division 5, according to MaxPreps.

The NCS playoff seeds and brackets will be released next weekend.

In the meantime, the Hoopa girls will tip off the Dick Niclai Tournament on Tuesday when they travel to Ferndale.

Tip off is set for 7 p.m. and the winner will advance to play Big 5 champion Eureka in Thursday’s semifinal round, which will be held at College of the Redwoods.

Ivy Lamebear