Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Laila Florvilus

By Ray Hamill — After leading her team to the H-DNL’s first-ever state championship in basketball, St. Bernard’s junior Laila Florvilus is turning some heads well beyond the Redwood Curtain.

On Wednesday, CalHiSports named Florvilus their Division IV state player of the year.

The award comes just a few weeks after her head coach Matt Tomlin was named CalHiSports Division IV coach of the year.

Florvilus, whom CalHiSports nicknamed “Marvelous Florvilus” in their story, becomes just the second-ever H-DNL girl to be named a state player of the year in basketball, following in the footsteps of McKinleyville’s Trina McCartney, who won the award back in 1987.

The prestigious accolade probably won’t come as a big surprise to Tomlin, considering what he said about her after she was recently also named the 2023/24 Humboldt Sports Girls Player of the Year.

“Laila is the best player I have ever coached,” Tomlin said. “She is an absolute warrior and a complete team player. She scores at will but can also rebound and play defense at an elite level.”

The junior guard averaged 19.3 points a game this past season and played a pivotal role in leading the Crusaders to the state championship.

She scored 18 points in the state final, which saw the SB girls comfortably beat Grossmont out San Diego County by a score of 47-29.

She also had 14 rebounds in the breakthrough victory.

Late last month, Tomlin was named the CalHiSports Division IV Coach of the Year after he became the first coach in California to ever win a state championship in football, which he twice, and girls basketball.

“There is no overall state coach of the year selection for combined sports so this one for D4 in girls hoops will have to do for Tomlin,” the story, written by Mark Tennis, said.

(Two years ago Tomlin also guided the Crusaders to a NorCal championship in baseball, which is as far as you can go in that sport.)

This year, he led the St. Bernard’s girls to a 30-5 record, which also included a thrilling come-from-behind win over H-DNL rivals Arcata in the Division-4 NorCal final on their way to the state championship.

Tomlin also was recently named this year’s Humboldt Sports Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.

Matt Tomlin