Photos Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Aliyah Vigil in action for the Crusaders on Tuesday night.

By Ray Hamill — It was a disappointing night for the H-DNL teams in the North Coast Section basketball playoffs on Tuesday.

The Eureka and St. Bernard’s girls both lost their NCS semifinals.

The Loggers fell at Maria Carrillo in the Division-3 tournament, losing 53-45, while the Crusaders fell at home against Cornerstone Christian in the Division-5 bracket by a score of 70-56.

The loss for the Eureka girls likely ends what had been a memorable season, one that saw them win a third straight Big 5 championship and a fourth consecutive Dick Niclai tournament.

They may still receive an at-large berth for the state playoffs and will find out on Sunday.

However, the SB girls, who were seeded No. 1 in their bracket, are definitely not done yet and will advance to next week’s state playoffs regardless of Tuesday’s loss.

The Crusaders had trouble matching up against an athletic Cornerstone team in their semifinal and the No. 4 seeded Cougars showed no ill effects after a long trip north from Antioch.

The visitors opened up a 17-8 lead with two minutes remaining in the first quarter in an intense and hard-fought showdown, which was nothing less than you might expect at this stage of the postseason.

But the St. Bernard’s girls began to find their touch late in the opening period and began to settle into the game.

They trailed by five heading into the second quarter but would go on a 9-0 run late in the period to open up a four-point advantage.

But the Cougars quickly rediscovered their shooting touch thanks in large part to the dangerous trio of freshman Kaylie Bertrand, junior Zakara Cooper and senior Mecca Alexander, and they re-took the lead, carrying a two-point advantage into the break.

The game, however, was still in the balance at that stage.

But that wouldn’t last, as the visitors enjoyed the better of exchanges in the third quarter, forcing several turnovers with their relentless press and taking full advantage of some SB miscues.

It took the home team almost four minutes to add to their tally in the third quarter and the deficit had ballooned to 11 points midway through the period.

After that, there was no way back for the Crusaders, who trailed by 15 going into the fourth quarter.

Laila Florvilus scored a team-high 22 points for the Crusaders and continued to battle hard the entire game, while Madelyn Shanahan finished with 20 points and was once again a force in the paint.

The standout senior had a triple-double, with 11 rebounds and 11 blocks in addition to her 20 points.

“I am super proud of our team for the fight they showed for four quarters against a great basketball team,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “Laila Florvilus and Madelyn Shanahan were brilliant all night and kept us in the game with their amazing efforts.”

Sahara Tupua added five points for the home team, while Samantha Sundberg finished with four, Ella Hart had three and Hannah Finck chipped in two.

Alexander scored a game-high 26 for the visitors, including 13 in each half, while Cooper added 16 and Bertrand finished with 14 points.

With the loss, the Crusaders dropped to 25-5 and they will try to get back on track when they open the NorCal tournament in a week’s time.

They will find out their playoff seed, bracket and opponents on Sunday.

“We will take a few days off to rest and recover and then the girls are looking forward to getting back to work as we prepare for the state playoffs,” Tomlin said.

Cornerstone will play for the section championship against No. 2 seed San Domenico on Friday.

The Loggers, meanwhile, matched Maria Carrillo stride for stride early in their game and the two teams were deadlocked at 22-22 at halftime.

The Santa Rosa school, however, would begin to take control after the interval and outscored the visitors in each of the third and fourth quarters to take the victory.

“They were big and strong inside,” Eureka head coach Cliff Napoleon said. “I thought we played tough with a physically stronger team.”

The Eureka girls created enough opportunities to match the home team in the second half, but their shots just weren’t falling.

Junior Mallorie Beauchamp had a good game for the Loggers at both ends of the floor, while the dynamic senior duo of Isis Poteet and Kaitlin Giacone were “outstanding once again,” according to the coach.

Giacone finished with a team-high 12 points, while Samara Gaither added 11 points and Poteet had 10 points.

Beauchamp scored seven points and freshman Tiara Maualuga chipped in five points.

No. 2 seed Maria Carrillo will play No. 1 Marin Catholic in Friday’s NCS championship game.

Unlike Divisions 4, 5 and 6, where the top four teams in each bracket are guaranteed a place in the state playoffs, only the top two from Division 3 are guaranteed to move on.

“We will find out on Sunday if we make it to NorCals,” Napoleon said. “There’s a slim chance but it’s not in our control. But we had a great and successful season.”

The Loggers are 23-5 and Tuesday’s loss ended a seven-game wining streak.