Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Ferndale girls will play Redding Christian in the opening round of the NorCal playoffs on Wednesday night.

By Ray Hamill — Just hours after losing their North Coast Section championship game, the Ferndale Wildcats received the No. 2 seed for the NorCal Division-6 playoffs.

The Cats are one of three local girls teams to qualify for the state playoffs and all three will host their opening games this coming week.

The Arcata Tigers received the No. 2 seed in the NorCal Division-4 bracket, while the McKinleyville Panthers are the No. 6 seed in Division 3.

Early Sunday afternoon, the Ferndale girls lost 75-40 to Cornerstone Christian in the NCS decider at Ferndale High School.

The Wildcats, however, may get a rematch with the Cougars after the two schools were handed the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds for the eight-team NorCal tournament.

Ferndale (20-8) will host No. 7 Redding Christian (16-8) on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

If they win, they should also host a NorCal semifinal.

The Arcata girls, meanwhile, could also host multiple games after receiving a high seed in their bracket.

The Tigers (14-12) will open against No. 15 Summit Shasta (21-2) on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

The Panthers were placed in a higher division for the state playoffs based on their performances this season.

The Mack girls (17-10) will open at home against No. 11 Lassen (24-6), also on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The South Fork boys, however, did not qualify for the state playoffs as previously reported.

A new rule this year only allows schools with 200 or less students to qualify for the Division-6 state playoffs.

South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said he had the option to move the Cubs up to Division 5 before the season tipped off, but decided to remain in D-6 for the NCS.