Submitted photo – The Hoopa players and coaches celebrate their tournament championship on Saturday.

The Hoopa girls are building some momentum ahead of league play in the new year.

On Saturday evening the Warriors capped a perfect run through tournament play at the Trinity Holiday Classic with a hard-fought one-point win (44-43) over the host school in the championship game.

With the win, the Warriors improved to 4-3.

Senior Ivy Lamebear enjoyed an outstanding few days at Trinity on her way to being named torment MVP.

The influential guard, who leads her team with 15.9 points a game, scored 13 points in the final, including three of Hoopa’s six 3-pointers.

Fellow senior Harmony Nelson also is enjoying a good start to the new season and added 12 points, seven rebounds and a team-best five assists in the win, while Maggie Morris chipped in 10 points.

Nelson and senior teammate Millennia McKindley each also were named to the all-tournament team.

All three seniors have been playing key roles on the team early in the season.

“Ivy and Harmony, when they start working on the same page, we’re unstoppable,” said Hoopa head coach Floyd “Cowboy” Billings, who added of McKindley, “She was a warrior. She battled.”

Sophomore Wau’Kel Blake was a force on the boards in the championship game and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, while McKindley added eight rebounds.

Submitted photo – Hoopa’s Ivy Lamebear was named tournament MVP.

But it was the team defense that really set the tone in the championship game.

“It was hard for them to score on us,” Billings said of Trinity. “And we came down and executed. We did what we had to do.”

Foul calls didn’t help matters for the Warriors, as the Trinity girls went to the free-throw line 36 times in the game.

However, the Hoopa players showcased a growing mental maturity and did not allow that to take them out of their game.

“Like I told the girls, we just need to play our game,” Billings said.

Ferndale girls win two of three games at Weaverville

The Wildcats maintained their fast start to the new season and improved to 5-2 on the season with a pair of wins at the Weaverville tournament over the weekend.

After opening tournament play with a 48-31 win over Willows on Thursday, the Cats suffered a narrow defeat to the host school on Friday (51-48), before bouncing back and closing out tournament play with an impressive 54-32 win over Fort Bragg on Saturday.

Junior Tinnley Pidgeon was named to the all-tournament team after another big showing over the three days.

And considering the Cats are still not at full strength, they should only continue to get better as they prepare for conference play in the new year.

“Once we get our full team back, (we’ll be better),” head coach Chris Ardrey said. “I like the way the younger girls are stepping up.”

The Cats welcomed back one of their most influential players over the weekend, with junior Michaela Ellsmore returning to the lineup after missing some time with an injury she picked up late in the soccer season, and she had an immediate impact, scoring a 3-pointer on her first shot just moments after entering the game against Willows.

The Wildcats were missing another influential player, fellow junior Clara Albee, who was unable to make the trip but should be back with the team this week.

Sophomore Gianna Regli impressed over the three days as she continues to establish her presence in the paint, and she finished with a team-high 14 points against Trinity, while Pidgeon added 13 points and Madison Gossi chipped in 11 points.

Pidgeon continued to impress the following day and scored a team-high 18 points against Fort Bragg, while Gossi added 12 points.

Olivia Gossi had the hot hand against Willows and scored 19 points in the win, showcasing the team’s growing depth and wealth of offensive options