Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Ferndale’s Emily Chavez

By Ray Hamill — The Ferndale girls will have to wait one more day to defend their North Coast Section championship in girls basketball.

The NCS has made the decision to push back Saturday night’s Division-6 girls decider until Sunday afternoon because of hazardous travel conditions.

The Wildcats are the No. 1 seed in the bracket and will host No. 2 Cornerstone Christian, with the Cougars traveling up from Antioch for the final.

Tip off is now set for noon.

The Wildcats are coming off back-to-back comfortable playoff wins, but head coach Jamie Ellsmore and her players are expecting a battle on Sunday.

“We are going to be playing a tough team and we’re just trying to make adjustments,” said the coach, who added that preparations are going well.

Both teams have clearly been the best in the bracket so far.

The Cats have beaten both Tomales (52-36) and Rio Lindo Adventist (56-12) on their way to the final, while the Cougars have posted lopsided victories over Round Valley (85-17) and Mendocino (82-45).

But containing a high-scoring Cougars offense that has scored 167 points in two playoff games is just half the battle for the Ferndale girls, who are looking to secure a fifth NCS title in 11 years.

The Cornerstone girls play an effective high press on defense and are also “a tough man team too,” according to Ellsmore.

The Cats, however, appear ready for the challenge and after suiting up just six players for Wednesday’s semifinal they will have seven girls available for Sunday’s big showdown.

“They’e ready to take on the extra work they need to,” Elsmore said. “We have to step up our level and and our intensity and I think they’re ready for it.”

Regardless of the result, both teams will advance to next week’s state playoffs, with the NorCal brackets set to be announced on Sunday.

The Arcata and McKinleyville girls and South Fork boys will also play in the state playoffs.