File photo – St. Bernard’s Seth Dyer

The St. Bernard’s boys took over sole possession of top spot in the Little 4 standings with another big conference win on Thursday night.

One week after a dominating 62-35 win at South Fork, the Crusaders beat Hoopa at St. Bernard’s 72-30.

With the win, the SB boys improved to 2-0 in conference and 11-2 overall, while the Warriors dropped to 1-1 and 6-8.

Also in the Little 4 on Thursday, the South Fork boys bounced back from last week’s loss to SB with a comfortable 65-35 win at Ferndale.

The Cubs improved to 1-1 in the Little 4 and 14-5 overall, while the Wildcats dropped to 0-2 and 4-8.

At St. Bernard’s, Aaiden Burris scored a game-high 16 points and also had eight rebounds in the win, while teammate Rowan Cromwell also continued to impress and finished with 13 points and six boards.

“It was a balanced effort offensively from our squad,” St. Bernard’s interim head coach Pat Shanahan said. “Aaiden set the tone with his energy and play making early.”

Zach Bowen was also instrumental in the win and finished with 12 points, while teammate Wyatt Simoni had eight points and six rebounds and freshman Garrett Shanahan added eight points and eight rebounds as he continues to impress in his first year playing at the high school level.

The ever-dangerous Seth Dyer added seven points and seven rebounds to round out an impressive team performance.

“Seth continued to be strong with the ball and lead by example, as he always does,” the coach added. “Rowan played tough and his versatility presents a unique challenge for teams.

“All the guys were moving the ball, celebrating each other’s collective success. And we continue to improve, which is our goal.”

Brandon Romero scored a team-high nine points for the Warriors, while Neil Moon also impressed and finished with eight points.

Tristan Billings added six points and Sequoia Valentine had four points.

Next up, the Crusaders will host McKinleyville in a non-league matchup on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Hoopa will host Northcoast Prep on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

At Ferndale, Shevy Bero-Van Meter led the Cubs with 22 points, including six 3-pointers, in a game that was marred with numerous foul calls.

The Cubs went to the free throw line 35 times in what head coach Taylor Morrow described as a “real grinder of a game.”

“We did a great job not getting frustrated, even though at times the game felt like a football game because of how many stoppages there were.” Morrow said. 

The coach added that Bero-Van Meter had “an awesome game.”

Teammate Reuben Lopez also was instrumental in the win and helped set the early tone with a couple of nice baskets, while Tommy Rotbergs finished with 14 points.

Wesley Way also impressed for the visitors and “provided much-needed hustle energy rebounding, penetrating and dishing,” according to his coach.

“He kind of did it all,” Morrow said of the standout junior.

The coach also praised the performance of Broc Contreras, who gave the Cubs “excellent energy off the bench.”

The performance was particular gratifying after two losses last week, including a non-league defeat at Sonoma Academy on Saturday.

“The athletes have really responded since our two losses last week and have taken it upon themselves to improve, which is exactly what you want as a coach, for the players to have ownership over the team,” Morrow said. “Feels good to get a league win.”