Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.co – Alia Prentiss in action for the Arcata Tigers on Saturday night.

The Arcata Tigers won on the road for the second straight North Coast Section playoff game on Saturday to set up a semifinal showdown at No. 2 seed Branson on Wednesday.

The No. 6 seeds traveled to Eureka to play the No. 3 St. Bernard’s Crusaders and came away with a 53-50 win to keep their postseason going.

The victory guarantees the Arcata girls a place in the state playoffs regardless of what happens next week.

And they’ll be joined there by the McKinleyville Panthers, who came away from Del Norte with a hard-fought 39-38 win over the Warriors in their quarterfinal.

The victory in Crescent City was the first in three trips this season, as the Panthers kept their playoff run going.

McKinleyville, seeded No. 5, will now play at top seed Piedmont in Wednesday’s semifinal round.

Also in action on Saturday, the Ferndale Wildcats beat Tomales 52-36 in their quarterfinal to advance to the Division-6 semifinals and also guarantee themselves a berth in the upcoming state playoffs.

The top-seeded Ferndale girls will now host No. 4 Rio Lindo Adventist in Wednesday’s NCS semifinals as they look to defend the section championship they won a year ago.

While South Fork is the last remaining H-DN boys team still alive, there are four girls teams still playing, including the Eureka Loggers, who got the better of St. Patrick-St. Vincent 69-58 in Division-3 action on Friday night.

Arcata 53, St. Bernard’s 50

The Tigers are moving on after rallying from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat their H-DN rivals at St. Bernard’s.

“Congratulations to coach (Doug) Oliveira and his team and best of luck to them next week,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “Good luck to all the H-DNL teams still playing.”

Nora Talty scored a team-high 16 points for the Tigers, who also won at Fort Bragg earlier in the week and improved to 14-11 on the season.

Despite not even qualifying for the Dick Niclai Tournament out of a loaded Big 5 this season, the Arcata girls have hit the ground running in the NCS tournament and are now two wins from a possible section crown.

Alia Prentiss also was instrumental in Saturday’s victory and finished with 11 points, while Melanie Luh had a big impact off the bench and added eight points.

Trinity Hamm also had an impact and chipped in six points, as did Caroline Dieker.

Madelyn Shanahan had a big night for the Crusaders and scored a game-high 17 points while talented sophomore Laila Florvilus scored 16 points.

Aliyah Vigil added six points, Amaiyah Her had five points and Mataya Sherman four.

A young Crusaders team that featured just one starting senior closed out the season 21-6 and had the most wins in program history.

“The amazing Lady Crusaders had an outstanding season and I am so proud of these ladies,” Tomlin said. “This was a fun group to coach and I could not be prouder of them.”

McKinleyville 39, Del Norte 38

Round four between these two Big 5 rivals went the Panthers way after they picked up their intensity in the second half.

The win lifts the Mack girls to 17-9 on the season and sets up a semifinal showdown against an undefeated Piedmont team (25-0) that is the No. 7 ranked team overall in California and the top-ranked Division-4 program, according to MaxPreps.

But regardless of what happens in the next round, the Panthers are guaranteed to advance to the state playoffs the following week.

McKinleyville won thanks in large part to some clutch free throw shooting and some solid team defense.

“That was a tough one,” Del Norte head coach Justin Clifton said. “McKinleyville made their free throws and we missed ours.

“They played pretty good defense and they rebounded. They had a lot of offensive rebounds late in the game. They really picked up their intensity in the second half.”

After being held to just four points in the opening quarter, the Mack girls rallied to tie the game at halftime and outscored the home team 10-4 in the third quarter.

Camryn Pinard scored a team-high 12 points in the win, while Trinity Preston added nine points and Kim Lewis finished with six.

Brooklyn Carter scored a game-high 16 points for the Warriors, who closed out an impressive season 20-9.

Carter made three big fourth-quarter 3-pointers, as the Del Norte girls pushed for the win late after falling behind by eight points with just under two minutes remaining.

“Both teams played hard down the stretch,” Clifton said. “McKinleyville just wanted it a little more. But I’m very proud of my girls.”

Lili Nunez added 11 points for Del Norte, while Lily Wilson had five and Gianna Taylor four.

“I want to give a shoutout to my seniors,” Clifton said of Taylor, Wilson and Karisma “Kiki” Franz. “They all played a key role and we’re going to miss them.”

Overall, Clifton was more than happy with his team’s performance this season.

“We went from seven wins to 20,” he said. “Things are looking bright up here.”

The Panthers, meanwhile, will keep their season going when they travel to Piedmont, before tipping off the NorCal tournament the following week.

The Panthers had previously lost two matchups this season in Crescent City.