Submitted photo – The Crusaders celebrate their historic state championship on Saturday.

The biggest occasion of their lives wasn’t too big for the St. Bernard’s girls on Saturday.

Playing in a state championship basketball game for the first time, the Crusaders comfortably took care of business against Grossmont out of San Diego County and rolled to a 47-29 win, becoming the first H-DNL team ever to win a state title in the sport after becoming the first H-DNL girls team to ever qualify for a state final.

The Crusaders never trailed and broke open a tight game with a dominating second quarter that saw them outscore the SoCal champions 15-4.

They led by 11 at halftime and stretched the lead to as many as 15 at one stage, while holding off a second-half Grossmont rally that never really took hold.

Team MVPs Madelyn Shanahan and Laila Florvilus once again helped set the tone and were magnificent, much as they have been all season.

And so too did outstanding freshman Samantha Sundberg, who is coming off one of the more impressive debut high school campaigns we’ve seen in a long time here on the North Coast.

All three of those players finished with a double-double and had “amazing games,” according to head coach Matt Tomlin.

Florvilus scored a game-high 18 points and also had 14 rebounds and a pair of blocks, while the experienced Shanahan came within three blocks of a triple-double, finishing with 16 rebounds, 15 points and seven blocked shots.

Sundberg too was hugely influential in the win and finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Perhaps most impressive of all, it was the young standout who helped settle her team early, making her first four shots and scoring eight of her points in the opening quarter.

“Samantha Sundberg carried us early,” Tomlin said. “She showed no nerves.”

Surprisingly, the Crusaders won the game despite turning the ball over 27 times, and they did so thanks in large part to their relentless rebounding, their defense and a defensive game plan that worked extremely well.

“The girls just executed the game plan to perfection,” Tomlin said. 

The key to that was making the Foothillers play to the left.

“We knew we had to make them go left and that’s what we did,” Florvilus said. 

Tomlin paid tribute to their opponents and the energy they brought to the big showdown.

Photo by Taunya Brunton – Action from Saturday’s state final.

“They were very athletic, and they gave full court pressure for four quarters,” he said. “I tip my hat to Grossmont. They played very hard. Luckily the turnovers didn’t hurt us because we defended the basket very well.”

Key to that was the team’s 58 rebounds, which contrasted with Grossmont’s 30 and included an impressive 34 on the defensive end.

And a big part of that stellar defense was the play of junior guard Aliyah Vigil, who has been outstanding on that side of the ball all season long and has established herself as one of the very best defensive players in the H-DNL this season.

“The team that we played was a really good dribble drive team and we knew the one thing we wanted to stop was that dribble drive,” Vigil said. “And I think we had our best defensive game of the year.”

Tomlin praised the play of the junior guard.

“Aliyah Vigil again just has that defense and toughness,” the head coach said. “And she does the little things that make this team better.”

Junior Jocelyn Sundberg also impressed and capped a very strong playoff run with another big performance.

The elder sister of Samantha finished with seven rebounds and matched Shanahan with a team-high three assists.

The Crusaders also displayed some composure at the free throw line and made 12 of 17 attempts, compared to just 6 of 9 for the Foothillers.

With the victory, the Crusaders closed out the season with a record of 30-5.

One of those defeats came in the North Coast Section semifinals to Cornerstone Christian, a disappointing loss that must now seem like a distant memory to the SB players, who have set a new standard for the H-DNL with their performance on Saturday.