Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Tuesday’s game at McKinleyville High.

By Ray Hamill — Strong defense continues to keep the Crusaders in games.

On Tuesday night, St. Bernard’s traveled to McKinleyville and came away with a 37-31 victory in girls basketball and improved to 6-1 on the season.

However, the team is still finding its feet on the offensive side of the ball, something that proved to be the difference in a Saturday loss to Del Norte in the deciding showdown at the Mt. Shasta tournament.

“I think it’s been a very good start to the season,” head coach Matt Tomlin said. “We’re struggling to shoot the ball in the last couple of games, but we found a way to win (at Mack).

“We’re just a few free throws and layups from being 7-0, and it’s a testament to how good the girls are playing on defense.”

The Panthers got off to a slow start in Tuesday’s showdown and trailed 8-1 after the opening quarter, but they would battle back to make a game of it and continued to cause the visitors problems in a hard-fought second half.

However, it’s been a challenging start to the season for the McKinleyville girls for reasons beyond their control, with the six lockdowns at the school in the past two weeks having an impact on the team’s preparation and mentality and limiting their practice time.

“It’s been throwing us off the last couple of weeks,” head coach Jacob Cheek said. “It has been really affecting the girls and I’m really proud of how they’re pushing through that.”

It’s not just the lack of real practice time that is having an adverse effect.

“It’s the not knowing that the girls are worried about,” Cheek added.

Tuesday’s loss dropped the Panthers to 3-4 on the season, but there have been plenty of bright spots and the players are showing signs of progress.

“I just like our competitive edge, and the way we played (on Tuesday) was much improved on the last couple of weeks,” Cheek said. “We battled back and kept playing, and that’s what we’re always looking for, is to compete.”

Reigning Little 4 co-MVPs Laila Flovilus and Madelyn Shanahan continue to set the tone and lead the way for the Crusaders.

Florvilus scored a game-high 20 points in the win, while Shanahan added a double-double and finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.

“Laila Florvilus is playing as well as anyone on the North Coast right now,” Tomlin said.

Shanahan has had at least 10 rebounds in every game and Tomlin described her shot blocking as “unbelievable.”

“Those two have been tremendous leaders,” the coach added.

The problem for the Crusaders is finding consistent scoring from elsewhere on the roster, although several other players have been impressing in other ways.

Sisters Jocelyn and Samantha Sundberg have shown plenty of promise, while Aliyah Vigil has established herself as one of the team’s most dangerous defensive players.

“Freshman Samantha Sundberg has a a chance to be a really good player for us,” said Tomlin, who added of junior Jocelyn, “she’s another player that can become that shooter from the outside.”

Vigil has been a consistent threat defending their opponents’ best player, while fellow junior Ella Hart gave her team some quality minutes off the bench on defense as well at McKinleyville.

“I was very proud of our effort on the defensive end of the court,” Tomlin said of Tuesday’s performance. “The girls played hard tonight. It is always a great game when we play McKinleyville. They have great players and coaches.”

Junior Tatum Fisher led the McKinleyville girls offensively with 12 points in the loss, while senior Bella Turner finished with seven points and five rebounds and junior Gabby Watson added five points and six rebounds.

Those three players are in their third year with Cheek and the team and have been leading the way for the Panthers early in the season.

“Our veterans, as we call them, are helping us a lot,” the coach said. “They’re keeping us in games.”

The Panthers have four other returning players from a year ago — Taly Turner, Liz Mengel, Mia Rasmussen and Neyr-res Bartoo — all of whom are seniors and all of whom are also playing key roles.

“That helps us big time, having them back,” the coach added.

The tenacious Mengel added seven rebounds and four points on Tuesday, while Bartoo finished with three rebounds and two points.

Next up, the Panthers will play at the Livermore tournament, opening against Irvington out of Fremont on Thursday, while the Crusaders will play one non-tournament game at Middletown on Friday before traveling to New Orleans for the Louisiana Holiday Shootout on Dec. 27.