Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday night’s game at St. Bernard’s.

By Ray Hamill — The Crusaders capped a good night for their teams with a 61-51 victory over Eureka in boys basketball at St. Bernard’s on Saturday night.

The win gave the host school a sweep of the two varsity games, with the SB girls also knocking off the Loggers 47-42 earlier in the night.

Played in front of a packed gymnasium, the boys teams served up a highly entertaining showdown that was a back-and-forth affair with little to separate the two crosstown rivals for much of the night.

“What a great basketball game,” St. Bernard’s coach Pat Shanahan said. “It wasn’t the prettiest by any means, but we did enough to come away with the win.”

The home team enjoyed the better start and quickly opened up a 9-0 lead, but the visitors responded with a 9-0 run of their own and SB held a slender 11-9 lead after the opening quarter.

The Crusaders would stretch the advantage to seven at halftime, but the Loggers came out the stronger of the two teams after the break and outscored SB 18-9 in the third quarter to lead by two going into the final period.

However, the Crusaders had the better of exchanges in the fourth and pulled away for the 10-point victory, which was their 10th straight dating back to mid December.

“What an effort by both teams,” said Shanahan, whose team improved to 16-2. “So proud of our guys for being tough and aggressively attacking the basket. Being down entering the fourth quarter was a good test for us. We responded well.”

Senior Rowan Cromwell continued his impressive season for the hosts and came within one point of a double-double, finishing with 21 rebounds and nine points.

Teammate Aaiden Burris added 13 points and eight boards.

“Rowan was a force on the glass,” Shanahan said. “Aaiden played confident and secure. He gravitates towards the ball and wants to lead in times where we need a leader.”

The ever-dangerous Seth Dyer also had a good night and finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Wyatt Simoni chipped in 13 points and six boards.

“Seth was huge playing through some adversity and did so many things to support the effort,” Shanahan said. “Wyatt’s strength and energy in the fourth especially sparked us. His will to win is contagious.”

Liam Dyer also had a good game on a deep SB roster and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Garrett Shanahan rounded out a balanced team performance with 10 rebounds and six points.

“It was an outstanding team performance,” the coach added. “Eureka has a fast and physical squad. They really challenged us in ways we haven’t been this year. Just a terrific night of basketball.”

Julian Goodman scored a game-high 14 points for the Loggers, who suffered a third straight loss and dropped to 12-9.

“We dug ourselves a hole to start the game, but I was proud of how we stayed patient and worked out way back into the game after a slow start,” Eureka assistant coach Andrew DeHart said.

Elijah Estrada also had a good night for the visitors and finished with 10 points, while Jahmil Rippy added seven points and Trenton Gerber had six points.

Goodman and Gerber led a good defensive performance for the Loggers against a dangerous SB offense.

According to DeHart, Goodman and Gerber “had tough assignments but were locked in and made it difficult” for the Crusaders.

Eureka’s Nelson Botzler-Washington also impressed and “played big down low,” while scoring four points and pulling down 14 rebounds.

Botzler-Washington also played some tough defense in the paint.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well, especially down the stretch,” DeHart added.

The Crusaders shot 40 free throws to the Loggers’ eight attempts, which didn’t help matters for the visitors.