Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Friday night’s game at St. Bernard’s.

The St. Bernard’s and Hoopa boys both won their conference openers on Friday night, as the 2025 Little 4 conference got under way.

The Crusaders welcomed Ferndale to Eureka and won 66-34, while Hoopa hosted South Fork and won a close game 63-59.

The ever-dangerous Brandon Romero, who is enjoying an outstanding season for the Warriors, finished with a double-double in the win, scoring 16 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

But the Hoopa boys had to battle against a South Fork team that led for most of the night, rallying late to secure the all-important victory in what is expected to be a tight race for this year’s championship.

“It was a good game,” Hoopa head coach Roman Hutt said. “(South Fork) are an active team and they had a lead most of the game.”

It was an entertaining matchup as both teams appeared up for the challenge.

“Love that both teams played hard the entire way through and put on a nail-biter of a show for the crowd to enjoy,” Hutt added. “Proud that we didn’t let a few mental lapses affect us too badly and we had the mental fortitude to to finish the game strong.”

Lyle McKinnon, Josh Moon and Brian Richards each added nine points in the win, as the Warriors improved to 1-0 in conference and 12-4 overall.

The Cubs led by as many as 10 at one stage, but they could not shake the challenge of their hosts.

“Hoopa kept coming back,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said. “They’re a super tough team, super well coached, and congratulations to them.”

Senior Wesley Way scored a team-high 18 points for the Cubs and “played amazing as he always does,” according to Morrow.

Shawn Schmidt also impressed for the visitors and added 15 points.

A deep Cubs team also got a lift from the bench, most notably from Gavin Gellman and Martin Navarrete, who gave their coach big minutes when some of their teammates were in foul trouble.

“(They) did a lot of little things that really helped us,” Morrow said. 

The Cubs had a chance to pull out the win, with just three points separating the teams in the final 30 seconds.

“We had a number of opportunities to finish plays and just couldn’t get there,” said Morrow, whose team dropped to 0-1 in conference and 9-6 overall. “Hopefully we’ve learned a lot and can take that moving forward.”

Overall, it was a good way to tip off the Little 4.

“It’s a great way to start league,” said Morrow, who added it was “an excellent game in a great atmosphere.”

At St. Bernard’s, meanwhile, the Crusaders began to take control of their game late in the first quarter and led by 14 at halftime.

Junior guard Liam Dyer was instrumental in the win once again and finished with a game-high 32 points, including nine 3-pointers.

Garrett Shanahan also impressed and finished with nine points and nine rebounds for the Crusaders, who were playing their first home game of the season in front of a packed house.

“Our squad sure enjoyed the opportunity to play in front of our home crowd,” assistant coach Pat Shanahan said. “What an awesome atmosphere and great way to start league.”

Dyer led the way for SB, but it was a pretty balanced team performance.

Prince Latimer added seven points in the win, as the Crusaders improved to 1-0 in conference and 10-3 overall with their eighth win in nine games.

Carson Costa finished with five assists for the SB boys, while Tyler Hinrichs had four assists and Trenten Hagler had three.

“We shared the ball today and didn’t settle for good shots but looked for great ones,” Pat Shanahan added. “Liam shot the ball well and his teammates were looking for him and each other.”

The SB coaches also liked what they saw from their team defense.

“We coaches were proud of the strides we’re making on the defensive end as well, especially against an active and athletic Ferndale team,” Pat Shanahan said.

Parker Prior led the Wildcats on offense and finished with 12 points.

The game was the first for the Cats in almost three weeks, although they didn’t show any ill-effects from the long layoff with a strong start to the game.

“We played good defense for most of the night and kept the game close through the first half,” Ferndale head coach Lane Stapp said. “SB started hitting shots to start the third and we could never get back into it.”

With the loss, the Wildcats dropped to 4-8.

Next up, the Wildcats will play a non-conference game at Fortuna on Monday before hosting Hoopa in Little 4 action next Friday.

The Crusaders will play a non-conference game against Eureka at SB on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. before hosting South Fork next Friday.

Submitted photo