File photo – The St. Bernard’s Crusaders

The St. Bernard’s boys left little doubt who was the best team in this year’s Little 4.

On Wednesday night, the Crusaders secured the conference championship outright with another dominating win, beating the Warriors 74-38 at Hoopa.

The win was the team’s 13th straight and fifth in five conference games, which they have won by an average of 32.6 points, with a 26-point win over South Fork their closest game.

It was more of the same on Wednesday, as the Crusaders opened up a 15-4 lead after the opening quarter and stretched the advantage to 23 by halftime.

The win lifts the Crusaders to 5-0 in the Little 4 and 19-2 overall and gives them a No. 1 seed for next week’s Dick Niclai tournament and a first-round bye.

Also in the Little 4 on Wednesday, the South Fork Cubs secured second place with a 71-41 win over Ferndale.

The Cubs are now 3-2 in conference and 17-7 overall and will receive a No. 2 seed for next week’s Dick Niclai tournament.

The Wildcats and Warriors are now tied for third in the conference standings with identical 1-4 records and one game remaining each.

Conference play closes out on Friday night with St. Bernard’s playing at Ferndale and Hoopa traveling to South Fork.

St. Bernard’s was led on Wednesday by Aaiden Burris, who finished with a double-double.

The senior standout scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.

The win, however, was secured with another big team performance, with several players contributing.

“We played solid tonight on both ends of the floor,” coach Pat Shanahan said. “It seemed like we generated more high percentage scoring opportunities and we shot the ball well.”

Seth Dyer also had a good game in the win and finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, while his younger brother Liam added 15 points and four rebounds.

“It was one of the most complete team efforts we’ve had this year,” Shanahan said. “I thought we had some excellent passing tonight as well.”

Submitted photos – Action from South Fork’s game against Ferndale in Miranda.

SB freshman Garrett Shanahan added six points and nine rebounds, while Zaach Bowen finished with seven points and Wyatt Simoni chipped in six points and six rebounds.

Lyle McKinnon scored a team-high 11 points for Hoopa, which dropped to 6-11 overall, while Neil Moon added nine points.

Tristan Billings also had five points, and Brandon Romero and Sequoia Valentine both scored four points.

At South Fork, meanwhile, the Cubs played some outstanding defense to keep the visiting Wildcats contained.

“The boys are really working well together on the defensive side of the ball,” said South Fork coach Chris Contreras, who was filling in for head coach Taylor Morrow, who was sick. “Offensively the boys seemed a little more relaxed, really hunting for good shots.”

The ever-dangerous Tommy Rotbergs had another big night in the win and scored a team-high 20 points, while Shevy Bero-Van Meter finished with 14 points and Zukunda Fansler added 12 points.

The Cubs had some early foul trouble and had to rely on their bench, but the bench players stepped up to the challenge, including Justin Freitas, who added eight points and had a good night on both sides of the ball.

“It was a great team effort,” Contreras added. “I’m glad the kids kept their focus no matter who  was leading them as head coach.”