Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Crusaders are one of our teams of the week.

By Ray Hamill — The last two remaining H-DNL basketball teams feature heavily in our athletes and teams of the week.

The Arcata girls and St. Bernard’s girls both moved within one win of reaching a NorCal championship game with a pair of state playoff victories for each over the past four days.

And that makes them our co-teams of the week.

The Crusaders defeated West Campus 55-39 in their Division-4 NorCal opener on Tuesday and followed that with a 62-53 win over Lincoln on Thursday to reach the Elite Eight of state play.

Not to be out-done, the Arcata girls beat Bear River 51-48 on Tuesday, before getting the better of Mt. Diablo 56-55 in a game that went down to the wire two days later.

If our two teams of the week both win their NorCal semifinals on Saturday, they will face off against each other on Tuesday night for a place in this year’s Division-4 state championship game.

No two local teams have impressed in the postseason as much as these two.

And the awards for each don’t end there.

A pair of juniors have played key roles for both squads.

Arcata’s Addison Wingate, in the words of her head coach Charlie Espinoza, is “just playing out of her mind” this week and was pivotal in both wins.

Wingate epitomizes the hard-nosed, tough-minded style Espinoza and his coaching staff are trying to instill at Arcata, and she has been setting the tone for her teammates.

St. Bernard’s Laila Florvilus has been equally impressive for the Crusaders.

Head coach Matt Tomlin believes she is the best player in the entire H-DNL right now, and judging by this week’s performances, it’s tough to disagree.

That makes both juniors our athletes of the week.

Addison Wingate gets ready to take a late free throw in Thursday night’s game.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK 

Addison Wingate

Arcata Basketball, Junior

Wingate has brought a never-say-die attitude to the state playoffs and has been the most composed player on the court down the stretch in both of her team’s games this week.

As the Tigers struggled late in Tuesday’s win and saw a 16-point lead disappear, it was Wingate who helped get her team over the line.

Just when the Tigers needed her the most, the junior standout came up with their only basket of the final seven minutes — which turned out to be the game-winning score — as well as pulling down a couple of key rebounds and draining two clutch free throws in the final 90 seconds.

She was ice cool at the line again on Thursday, this time cementing a late comeback with two late free throws that proved to be the difference in a one-point victory.

For more on her big week, see Resilient Tigers rally late to keep their state championship hopes alive …

Laila Florvilus

St. Bernard’s Basketball, Junior

Florvilus has been sensational all season and this is the third time she has been named one of our athletes of the week.

She scored a team-high 21 points against West Campus and followed that with a 27-point performance against Lincoln.

“Laila Florvilus again showed that she’s the best player in the H-DN,” Tomlin said of the junior star, who also had 14 rebounds in Thursday’s win. “She was just relentless.”

After a standout sophomore campaign, during which she was named co-MVP of the Little 4, Florvilus has taken her game to a new level this season and she’s showing no signs of slowing down.

For more on her big week, see Crusaders advance to state Elite Eight with hard-fought victory …

TEAMS OF THE WEEK 

Arcata Girls Basketball

St. Bernard’s Girls Basketball

The two H-DNL rival schools are on track to face off for a NorCal championship and a place in a state championship on Tuesday night.

Of course, first they have to take care of business against two very tough opponents on Saturday, so nothing is guaranteed, and neither will take their opponents lightly.

But after receiving the top two seeds in the Division-4 NorCal bracket on Sunday — St. Bernard’s is No. 1 and Arcata is No. 2 — both schools have lived up to the billing with inspirational wins in their first two state playoff games.

We’ve been saying all year that the quality of girls basketball in the H-DNL this season is as good from top to bottom as we’ve seen in some time, and the Crusaders and Tigers have done nothing to suggest we were wrong.

Submitted photo – The Crusaders pose for a victory selfie after Thursday’s win.