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By Ray Hamill — St. Bernard’s senior Aliyah Vigil still has some unfinished business to take care of on the high school basketball courts, but she knows where she’ll be playing after graduation next year.

On Tuesday, Vigil held a letter signing ceremony at College of the Redwoods after announcing she will be taking her talents to the local community college to play for new head coach Bree Northern.

And she’s excited about the opportunity and looking forward to the next chapter in her career and education.

For now, of course, Vigil and her SB teammates remain focused on the upcoming high school season and defending the Division-4 state championship they won earlier this year.

But the defensive specialist knows where she’ll be calling home after graduation, and the Corsairs are more than happy to bring her talents and work ethic on board.

“We are very excited to have Aliyah join CR women’s basketball next year,” Northern said. “She is a super hard worker and she comes from a very successful program. Aliyah knows what it takes to win games and will be a huge asset for our team.”

Vigil has been practicing with the CR players this fall, taking a class with Northern at the local community college after SB assistant coach DJ Snowton recommended it.

“He was talking to Bree a little bit about me and she reached out to me and said I should practice with them and take the class,” Vigil said. “So I took the class and I liked the mentality there.”

That mentality stresses team above individuals, she said.

Vigil was at CR almost every day during September and got on familiar terms with some of her new teammates and the new coach, and she immediately liked what she saw.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “It was more developing skills than running plays, but it was a lot of fun.”

So too was the new head coach, who put the players at ease with her demeanor.

“My first impression was that she very funny,” Vigil said with a chuckle. “And I really like the way she runs it, and everybody is always positive and up-lifting.”

The respect was mutual.

“She is very coachable, and her presence will be greatly felt on the court,” Northern said of the new recruit. “Aliyah isn’t afraid to guard the other team’s best players. Her defense will be a key piece for our program’s success.”

Vigil was known for that stellar defense on the Crusaders’ march to the state title last winter, which was the first-ever for the H-DNL in the sport, boys or girls.

She regularly was tasked with defending the opposing team’s most dangerous offensive player and it’s a role she not only embraced but one she grew into while becoming one of the most effective defenders in the H-DNL.

“I’m so proud of Aliyah,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “Her defense and toughness helped lead us to a state championship.”

And the senior should only continue to develop that aspect of her game this coming season.

“We are excited to have her in our program for one more year and we look forward to watching her play for coach Northern in the future,” Tomlin added.

Vigil’s role at CR, however, could be a little different from what we’ve seen the past couple of years at SB, and she says Northern wants her to take on more of an offensive role.

And Vigil is just happy to help out in whatever way her new coach will want.

“We kind of talked about (my role with the team),” she said of Northern. “Mostly a defensive point guard, but I’m willing to work on becoming more of a shooting guard. I just want to get better and develop my skills more.”

For now, however, Vigil is focused on her final high school season and she wants to enjoy it all as much as she can.

And she’s hoping she and her teammates can continue their successful run.

“I hope we can win a league championship again, and work our way to another state championship,” she said. “But also to make the friendships I have on the team even better and to always have a positive attitude.”

The friendships she has made through sports — she also played soccer for the Crusaders — is something she says she will always remember from her time at the school.

“I think I’ll remember all the times we went out of town and all of us hanging out in the hotel rooms,” she said. “And definitely the state championship, but mostly the friendships.”

Vigil is still keeping her options open when it comes to a major, but she says she wants to go into nursing or the medical field.

Her older sister, Bella, also played college basketball at Butte College.