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The Wildcats remain in contention for a berth in next week’s Dick Niclai boys basketball tournament despite falling to South Fork in Miranda on Wednesday night.

The Cubs won the game 71-41.

With the loss, the Ferndale boys dropped to 1-4 in the Little 4 and they are tied with Hoopa for third in the standings.

All four conference teams will close out the regular season on Friday night, with the Wildcats hosting champions St. Bernard’s and the Warriors traveling to South Fork.

If both the Cats and Warriors either win or lose their games, they will end up tied for third and will face off in a tournament play-in game at Ferndale on Monday.

After Wednesday’s loss, Ferndale interim head coach Graham Westfall paid tribute to the South Fork players for their performance.

“South Fork brought amazing defensive pressure and effort,” he said. “We couldn’t find our rhythm and they took advantage of our turnovers. They controlled the game from the start.”

Despite the lopsided score, the Wildcats had some good performances, including sophomore Tanner Pidgeon, who finished with a team-high seven points and played hard at both ends of the floor.

Parker Prior also “brought great energy,” according to Westfall, and finished with six points, as did Omar Salvador.

Both Prior and Salvador each also finished with a couple of steals as they battled hard.

Senior Wes Renner also gave the team a spark off the bench on the offensive end and finished with seven points to round out a balanced offensive team performance.

Tanner Pidgeon

The Cats will regroup on Thursday as they get set for Friday’s pivotal showdown.

Monday’s possible play-in game could be part of a doubleheader at Ferndale High, with the girls team scheduled to host Hoopa in the opening round of the Dick Niclai tournament, if both the Cats and Warriors finish in a tie for second in conference after Thursday night’s conference finales.

Ferndale gets to host both of those games after winning a coin flip.

We’ll have a full rundown of the possible tie-breaking scenarios involving all the Big 5 and Little 4 teams ahead of the Niclai tourney later on Thursday.