File photo – Harmony Nelson and the Hoopa Warriors will play for the Trinity tournament championship on Saturday afternoon.

The Eureka girls continued their preparation for the Big 5 with another impressive showing against a good Encinal team at the Windsor tournament on Friday.

The Loggers stretched their winning streak to five straight with a 68-33 victory and improved to 7-1 on the season.

The win sets up a tournament championship showdown against either Windsor or Miramonte on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

In other games on Friday, St. Bernard’s beat the host school at the Mt. Shasta tournament 56-3 to advance to Saturday’s championship game against the No 13 team in Nevada, Pyramid Lake, while Hoopa defeated Fort Bragg 47-27 in the semifinal of the Trinity tournament.

The Del Norte girls also were in action at the Harlan Carter tournament in Redding and bounced back from an opening-day loss with an impressive 53-47 overtime win over Enterprise.

At the Healdsburg tournament, Fortuna fell 47-33 to the host school and McKinleyville lost 46-18 to Justin-Siena.

On Thursday, the Ferndale Wildcats defeated Willows 48-31 at the Weaverville tournament.

The Loggers quickly took control of their game against Encinal thanks to a fast start and some outstanding pressure defense which resulted in multiple turnovers.

They led 18-6 in the first quarter and never allowed Encinal back into the game stretching the advantage to an insurmountable 34 points (48-14) going into halftime.

Samara Gaither, who is enjoying a very good start to the new season, led the Eureka girls in scoring and finished with 16 points, while the equally impressive Tiara Maualuga added 12 points.

Nashaya Williams also continued to impress and finished with 10 points, as did Olivianna Millender, while Mallorie Beauchamp chipped in nine points in what was a balanced offensive performance by the team.

Encinal, which is a Division-3 school, had beaten a good Montgomery team on Thursday night.

“They were no slouches,” Eureka head coach Cliff Napoleon said.

The Loggers also won the Gridley Classic tournament last weekend.

Hoopa 47, Fort Bragg 27

The Hoopa girls won for the second straight night at the Trinity Holiday Classic and improved to 3-3 on the season.

Sophomore Wau’Kel Blake led the Warriors in scoring and finished with a team-high 12 points to go with seven rebounds, while impressive senior Ivy Lamebear scored 11 points following her 22-point performance in the team’s tournament-opening win over Modoc on Thursday.

Lamebear also had seven steals in Friday’s win.

The Warriors had to overcome a slow start that saw them trail 13-1 after the opening quarter, but they grew into the game, pulling within five at halftime, and they outscored the Timberwolves by 20 points (24-4) in the third quarter.

Harmony Nelson had seven points and six rebounds in the win, while Sa-air Obie added five points and Maggie Morris had nine rebounds and four points.

Millennia McKindley also impressed for Hoopa and had a team-high 12 rebounds.

The Warriors will play for the tournament championship on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Trinity.

Del Norte 53, Enterprise 47, OT

The Warriors bounced back from their tournament-opening loss at the Harlan Carter tournament on Thursday with a hard-fought overtime win on Friday.

In what head coach Dylan Nelson described as an “intense game,” the Del Norte girls had to overcome a slow start and battle back from an early 11-point deficit on their way to the win.

They pulled within one by halftime and the second half was back-and-forth the entire way, setting up an overtime period,

But the Warriors enjoyed the better of exchanges in overtime and pulled out the six-point win to go to 4-3 on the season.

“Enterprise made some shots in the first quarter and we couldn’t buy a bucket,” said Nelson, who added of the second half, “Everyone played and embraced their role. When we made mistakes, we bounced back and never put our heads down.”

Brooklyn Carter scored a team-high 19 points in the win as she continues her big comeback from a season-ending injury a year ago, while freshman Jaylee Keeling continued to look very strong and added 18 points.

“Brooklyn made shots and kept attacking the rim,” Nelson said. “(She) was a really steady influence on the floor.

“Jaylee played beyond her years. (She) fought through foul trouble and was absolutely fearless hitting clutch shots and free throws in overtime.”

Senior Tsinte Steinruck also was influential in the win and added five points while setting the tone for her teammates.

“Tsinte showed great leadership and grabbed some contested rebounds,” Nelson said. “Her effort was incredible. Everything a coach wants in a senior.”

Overall, it was a nice response to a disappointing tournament-opening loss.

“Really proud of how all of the girls responded, came together and showed a ton of resilience in that game,” Nelson added. “Team win.”

St. Bernard’s 56, Mt. Shasta 3

A pair of state champions will face off for the Mt. Shasta tournament championship on Saturday after the Crusaders cruised to another big win in their semifinal.

The big story of the game was the dominating SB defense, which held the host school to just three points for the game.

Laila Florvilus led the Crusaders offense and finished with a game-high 21 points, while impressive freshman Carli Baum continued her strong start to her high school career with 10 points.

Samantha Sundberg and Aliyah Vigil each also scored six points while Jocelyn Sundberg added five points, giving St. Bernard’s five players who outscored the entire Mt. Shasta team.

Remarkably, the Crusaders held the host school without a basket from play, with all three of their points coming from the free-throw line.

Saturday’s championship game will be a different story.

The Crusaders, who are the defending Division-4 California state champions, take on Pyramid Lake, the defending Nevada 2-A champions, who are the No 13 ranked team in the state this season.

The Crusaders are now 5-0.

Healdsburg 47, Fortuna 33

The Fortuna girls lost for just the second time this season in their semifinal at the Healdsburg tournament, falling to the host school.

“The girls played hard against a big physical Healdsburg team,” said Fortuna head coach Tom Chapman, who added “We struggled to contain their post. And Healdsburg was able to capitalize on some untimely turnovers.”

Mariah Bravo scored a team-high 13 points for the Huskies, while teammate Macee Marquez added seven points.

The loss was the first for their Fortuna girls on their four-game road trip this week, and they dropped to 6-2 on the season.

The Huskies will close out tournament play against Big 5 rival McKinleyville on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Thursday

Ferndale 48, Willows 31

The Ferndale girls welcomed back a key player as they continued their impressive run on opening day of the Weaverville tournament on Thursday.

After missing the first four games of the new season because of an injury she picked up late in the soccer season, influential junior Michaela Ellsmore returned to the court and scored six points in the win on a pair of 3-pointers.

Sophomore Olivia Gossi had the hot hand for the game and finished with a team-high 19 points for Ferndale, including going 4-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Tinnley Pidgeon also continued to impress and added 13 points, while sophomore center Gianna Regli also had six points and Belky Gallardo chipped in four points.

The win was the fourth straight for the Wildcats, who improved to 4-1.