Submitted photos

The St. Bernard’s girls closed out a trip to Florida with a strong performance in the consolation game of the Daytona Beach Sunshine Classic on Monday.

The Crusaders defeated Delsea out of New Jersey by a score of 55-23 and went 2-1 in tournament play.

In earlier tournament action, the SB girls lost to Archer out of Georgia by a score of 56-21 on Friday and defeated Fairdale out of Kentucky 69-10 on Saturday.

Archer would go on to win the tournament championship.

The tournament opening loss was the first of the season for the Crusaders, who are now 11-1.

According to head coach Matt Tomlin, the story of Monday’s win was “team defense.”

“The girls worked so hard on the defensive end of the court, which led to several baskets in transition,” the coach said. 

Laila Florvilus led the St. Bernard’s offense and scored a team-high 20 points in the win, while Jocelyn Sundberg added seven points, Kayla Maples and Samantha Sundberg each had six points and Aliyah Vigil chipped in five points.

Overall, the tournament and the trip was a good experience for the St. Bernard’s players.

“I am so proud of these ladies,” Tomlin said. “They flew across the country and challenged themselves in a big-time national tournament.

“We lost our opening game against the tournament champion from Georgia and then bounced back with two impressive wins.”

Florvilus, who has been outstanding early in the season, was named to the all-tournament team.

Samantha Sundberg also had a big few days in tournament play and led the Crusaders with 14 points, including three 3-pointers, in Saturday’s 59-point win.

Florvilus and impressive freshman Carli Baum each added 11 points in the victory, while Makinsey Lemley chipped in 10 points, including three 3s, and CJ Figas added five points.

All 11 SB players scored in the win, in a performance that Tomlin described as a “balanced team win.”

Next up, the Crusaders will play at Yreka on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and at Redding Christian pm Saturday at 1 p.m.

Submitted photo – Laila Florvilus was named to the all-tournament team.