Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Friday night’s game at Eureka.

The St. Bernard’s girls look like they’re a team on a mission this postseason.

On Friday night, the No. 1 seeds in the North Coast Section Division-5 bracket comfortably took care of business against Little 4 rival Ferndale, winning 64-41 to advance to next week’s semifinals.

Also in the Division-5 bracket on Friday, the No. 7 Hoopa girls fell at No. 2 San Domenico 64-27 to end their season.

Junior standout Laila Florvilus exploded for 34 points for the Crusaders, who improved to 25-4 on the season and will now host No. 4 Cornerstone Christian in Tuesday night’s section semifinals.

The win also guarantees the SB girls a place in the upcoming state playoffs, which tip off in two weeks.

Playing Ferndale for the third time this season, the Crusaders started fast and opened up a 17-8 lead after the opening quarter.

They would stretch the advantage to 19 at halftime.

“We needed to bring our A-plus game and we did not,” Ferndale head coach Chris Ardrey said. “We brought our B game and you can’t do that against St. Bernard’s. But we never quit.”

Ardrey challenged his players at halftime and they responded with a better third quarter.

Aliyah Vigil and Samantha Sundberg each added 10 points for the Crusaders, while Madelyn Shanahan had seven points.

“I am super proud of our players for setting a goal of making the state playoffs and then working so hard as a team to get there,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “This is a special group of young ladies and this season has been so much fun.”

Despite the loss, the season was a good one for the Wildcats, who will lose just one senior, Reaghan Langer, from a team that started four sophomores and had a freshman as the first player off the bench.

It was also a difficult challenge for the team going from the Division-6 playoffs a year ago to Division 5 this winter, especially for such a young roster.

“We had some good victories, we always fought and we’ve got some great kids,” Ardrey said. “It was fun and they’ll learn from this, I truly believe that.

“I thought the season was a success and I’m proud of the kids.”

Langer closed out her high school career with a big performance in Friday’s defeat, something she has been doing throughout her four years of high school.

“We want to congratulate Ferndale on a great season and Reaghan Langer on a great four-year varsity career,” Tomlin said. “She’s a superstar student-athlete.”

No final scoring stats were immediately available for Ferndale, which closed out the season with a record of 13-8.

The Warriors, meanwhile, made a second long road trip to the Bay Area in four days for their NCS quarterfinal.

But the No. 2 seeds in the bracket were too strong.

Tashee Tracy led the Warriors with nine points, while Talena Downs-Miguelena added eight points and Ivy Lamebear finished with seven points.

According to head coach Floyd “Cowboy” Billings, the Hoopa girls battled hard all night.

“It was a hard one, pretty physical play, almost like a football game, and the girls still fought and played hard to the end,” Billings said. 

The coach also praised his seniors — Tracy, Downs-Miguelena and Tahlia Booth — for their efforts on Friday and all season long.

“The seniors played their hearts out,” he said. “It was a good season. I’m very proud of the girls.”

The coach also paid tribute to the Hoopa fans.

“They supported us all season,” he said.

The Warriors close out the season 13-10.