Submitted photo – Action from Wednesday’s game at South Fork.

Just three months after winning a first-ever North Coast Section championship in football, many of the same South Fork players will now get the opportunity to win just a second-ever section title for the school in boys basketball.

The Cubs won their semifinal on Wednesday night, beating Averroes 59-44 to advance to Saturday’s Division-6 championship game.

Two other H-DNL teams were also in action in the NCS basketball playoffs on Wednesday night.

In Division 4, the No. 4 seeded Arcata girls lost their semifinal at No. 1 St. Patrick-St. Vincent 57-49, and the No. 5 McKinleyville boys lost their semifinal at No. 1 Justin-Siena 58-47.

The losses, however, do not end the season for the Tigers or Panthers, who have already qualified for next week’s state playoffs.

At Miranda, the No. 2 seeded South Fork boys broke open a tight game against No. 3 Averroes in the third quarter.

The Cubs led by five at halftime, but took control in the third, outscoring the visitors 20-8 for the period.

After that there was no way back for the Falcon.

“It was an amazing team effort,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said. “It took our whole team to get this one.”

The Cubs won with a balanced offensive team performance with three players finishing in double digits in scoring.

Tommy Rotbergs scored a team-high 13 points while Ruben Lopez and Shevy Bero-Van Meter both finished with 12 points.

The win lifts the Cubs to 20-8 and gives them their first 20-win season in over a decade.

“I’m just really proud and we played at a championship level,” Morrow added.

The Cubs will travel to play No. 1 Cornerstone Christian in Antioch on Saturday, with tip off set for 7 p.m.

They are the only H-DNL team to reach an NCS championship game this season after five league teams navigated their way to the semifinal round.

Morrow also praised community support for the team, with enthusiastic home crowds showing up for the quarterfinal and semifinal on Saturday and Wednesday nights.

“A huge thank you to the community for their support and energy,” he said.

The NCS championship appearance will be just the program’s second ever and a first since the Cubs won their only section championship back in 1990.

Several of the South Fork players also played key roles in the school’s first-ever NCS football championship win in November, when the Cubs beat Stuart Hall 44-22 in the final.

At Napa, meanwhile, the McKinleyville boys did a good job matching up against the No. 1 seeds in Division 4, but a big third quarter lifted Justin-Siena to victory.

Despite the loss, head coach Chris Davis believes his players played tough in the face of adversity, with the home team getting 27 free throws to Mack’s five.

“Our boys proved tonight we can play with anyone in our division in the state as our defensive toughness really showcased against a very well coached and fundamentally sound team,” he said.

File photo – South Fork’s Tommy Rotbergs

File photo – Flynn Creighton

Flynn Creighton had a big night offensively for the visitors, scoring a team-high 20 points and “carving his way through the paint,” according to his coach.

Bode Douglass added nine points and Jordan Brown finished with seven points, while Brown and Justin Wells did a good job pressuring the Justin-Siena point guards and made it difficult for the home team to run its sets.

“I’m proud of our guys for stepping up to a great team to play Mack team basketball, and unfortunately we didn’t fall on the right side tonight,” Davis said.

The game, however, got away from the Panthers after the interval.

“We had to battle through adversity in the third quarter and could have done better responding to some tough calls,” the coach added. “We forgot our ‘next play’ mentality momentarily, and that, paired with a couple of mental lapses, showed to be the difference in the game.”

File photo – Arcata’s Nora Talty

The Panthers dropped to 20-12 and will now turn their attention to the state NorCal tournament, which tips off next week.

The Panthers will find out their seed, bracket and opening-rounding opponent when the brackets are announced on Sunday.

Likewise with the Arcata girls, who led their game at St. Patrick-St. Vincent in Vallejo for much of the night.

However, a big fourth quarter for the Bruins, which saw them outscore the Tigers 18-6, lifted them to victory and sends them on to Saturday’s championship game.

The Bruins will play No. 2 seed University in the final.