File photo – St. Bernard’s Senior Laila Florvilus

Last year’s conference co-MVP Laila Florvilus got this year’s Little 4 schedule off to a very impressive start on Thursday night, as the St. Bernard’s girls cruised to a comfortable win at Ferndale.

Florvilus had a triple-double as the defending champions won 67-35.

The standout senior, who was also named the CalHiSports Division-4 player of the year last winter, finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals in a game that got away from the host school in the second half.

“Laila Florvilus was special again tonight,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “She is simply amazing.”

Florvilus, however, was far from the only standout on a night that belonged to the visitors.

Freshman point guard Carli Baum continued her impressive debut season at the varsity level and finished with eight points, seven steals and three assists, while senior Aliyah Vigil continued to show why she is one of the best shutdown defenders in the entire H-DNL.

“I was very happy with how (Baum) stepped up and made big plays in a tough environment,” Tomlin added. “Aliyah Vigil was again our defensive leader and the Sundberg sisters (Jocelyn and Samantha) made several big plays.”

Vigil finished with five points, as the Crusaders improved to 1-0 in conference and 15-1 overall.

The Ferndale girls stayed in contention through the opening half and only trailed by seven at halftime.

The game, however, would get away from them in the third and fourth quarters.

“You can’t score 11 points in a half and beat a good team,” Ferndale head coach Chris Ardrey said.

Tinnley Pidgeon scored a team-high 11 points for the Wildcats, while sophomore teammate Gianna Regli added nine points.

“They went to a triangle plus two and we didn’t adjust,” Ardrey said of his team’s second half.

File photo by Taunya Brunton – St. Bernard’s senior Aliyah Vigil

Ferndale’s Pidgeon and Michaela Ellsmore impressed Tomlin.

“Ferndale is a good basketball team. They are well coached,” the St. Bernard’s coach said. “Pidgeon and Ellsmore are terrific players.”

Jocelyn Sundberg and Sahara Tupua each chipped in four points for the Crusaders.

“I felt the play of Sahara Tupua helped spark us in the second half,” Tomlin added. “She came off the bench and made big shots and played excellent defense.”

Overall, it was another good team performance for a surging St. Bernard’s team that has now won six straight games and is a heavy favorite to win this year’s conference.

“Very proud of my girls for competing for four quarters and playing great team basketball to get the win,” Tomlin said.

The Ferndale girls, who had won five of their previous six games, dropped to 0-1 in conference and 10-5 overall.

Next up, the Wildcats and Crusaders will play non-conference games on Saturday.

Ferndale welcomes McKinleyville to the Cream City at 2 p.m., while St. Bernard’s will host crosstown rival Eureka later in the day at 6 p.m.