File photo – Madelyn Shanahan and the St./ Bernard’s girls are the top-ranked Division-5 team in the state, according to MaxPreps.

By Ray Hamill — The Crusaders are turning some heads beyond the Redwood Curtain early in the season.

Both St. Bernard’s basketball teams are off to identical 3-0 starts after winning their respective season-opening tournaments last weekend.

And both are also riding high in the first MaxPreps rankings of the season which came out this week.

The SB girls are not only the top-ranked Division-5 team in the North Coast Section, but are also the No. 1 team in their division in all of California.

Cornerstone Christian, Mt. Diablo, Cloverdale and The Bay School round out the top five in NCS Division 5.

The Crusaders beat Cloverdale in the championship game at last week’s Cloverdale tournament.

The St. Bernard’s boys are not far behind the girls.

The Crusaders are also the top ranked Division-5 team in the NCS, ahead of Stuart Hall, Athenian, St. Vincent de Paul and Sonoma Academy.

And the SB boys are ranked No. 2 in the division in the state, trailing only Liberty.

Last weekend, the Crusaders won all three of their games at the Upper Lake tournament on the way to the championship.

Both St. Bernard’s teams will try to keep their fast start to the new season going when they play at the Mt. Shasta Holiday Tournament this weekend.

The boys open against Etna on Thursday at 5 p.m., while the girls open against Mt. Shasta at 6:30 p.m.

The SB girls also play Weed at 10:30 a.m. on Friday and will play H-DNL rival Del Norte in their tournament finale on Saturday, also at 10:30 a.m.

Submitted photo – The St. Bernard’s boys and coaches celebrate their tournament win on Saturday.