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

Anyone who thought this year’s Little 4 in boys basketball was going to be a three-horse race was given a timely reminder that’s not the case on Friday night.

The Ferndale Wildcats showed us they belong in the discussion as well with a thrilling overtime victory.

The Wildcats welcomed Hoopa to the Cream City and won 67-58, quickly putting a conference-opening loss to St. Bernard’s behind them and moving into a tie for second in the standings.

The win not only puts the Cats in position for a run at this year’s title, but also avenged a 43-point loss to the Warriors a little over a month ago.

“It was a really good, tight game,” Ferndale head coach Lane Stapp said. “I was proud of our guys to be able to stay the course against a team that beat us handily in the preseason.”

With the victory, the Cats improved to 1-1 in the Little 4 and 5-9 on the season.

Senior Parker Prior led the way for the Wildcats and finished with a team-high 19 points, while junior teammate Prescott Langer added 15 points.

Fellow junior Tanner Pidgeon also was hugely influential in the win and finished with 12 points while also playing some great defense, according to his coach.

Senior Lyle McKinnon led the Warriors with 15 points and also had six rebounds, while teammate Brandon Romero finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Brian Richards also had a double-double for Hoopa, finishing with 12 points and 19 rebounds.

Trystan Billings chipped in seven points and seven rebounds, while Ish E-kor had nine points.

The Hoopa boys, however, have struggled in recent games after a strong December in tournament play.

With the loss, which was their third in four games, the Warriors dropped to 1-1 in conference and 12-6 overall.

In the other Little 4 game on Friday night, the St. Bernard’s Crusaders hosted South Fork in a matchup between the past two conference champions and won 85-62.

The win was the 10th in 11 games for the Crusaders, who are now 2-0 in the Little 4 and take over sole possession of top spot in the standings.

The visiting Cubs, however, came out fired up for the game and gave their hosts all they could handle for much of the night in a showdown that didn’t get away from them until late.

“South Fork is a tough, skilled and scrappy team,” SB assistant coach Pat Shanahan said. “They play very hard. We are happy to have come through with an important league win.

“They came out fiery and were clearly playing to win every possession. It took us a couple of quarters to fully adjust, slow down and play our game.”

The Crusaders, who were led by the always dangerous Liam Dyer, began to take control after the break.

“By the third quarter we started taking better care of the ball,” Shanahan said. “We finished off the game strong, sharing the ball making each other better.”

Dyer scored a game-high 24 points and also had nine rebounds and eight assists.

“Liam’s patience and timing today were on point,” Shanahan said. “He distributed the ball well and was very efficient.”

So too was teammate Prince Latimer, who continues to grow into his role with the team and is getting stronger as the season progresses.

“Prince was a playmaker once again,” the SB coach added of the junior guard who finished with 16 points and three assists. “He got teammates open and moved the ball and also took advantage of opportunities to score.”

Junior Shawn Schmidt impressed for the visitors in a balanced team performance and finished with a team-high 14 points, while sophomore teammate Martin Navarrete added 12 points.

“St. Bernard’s is always tough,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said. “Always well coached. Always plenty of talent.

“I do feel like we have plenty of talent on our team and a lot of heart and grit. But we seem to be lacking the ability to have a bit of dog in us.”

Garrett Shanahan added 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Crusaders, who are now 12-3 on the season, while teammate Thien Dang had one of his most impressive games of the season and chipped in 11 points.

“Garrett played aggressive tonight,” Pat Shanahan said. “His activity and communication is infectious.

“Dang provided an offensive spark off the bench and Burke Morrow played smart and aggressive.”

Luke Brunton added eight points for SB, while Trenten Hagler and Tyler Hinrichs each had five points, with the latter also pulling down eight rebounds.

“With Carson (Costa) out with an injury, a number of other people stepped up, including Dang, Tyler, Burke, Luke and Trenten,” Pat Shanahan said. “Proud of our team’s intelligence and self-awareness to make adjustments tonight.”

Zakunda Fansler, Travis Way and Gavin Gellman each added nine points for South Fork, which has now lost four straight games and dropped to 0-2 in conference and 9-8 overall.

“I love my team and I love being around them but we obviously have some stuff to work on next week,” Taylor Morrow added.

Trevor Hunt also impressed for the Cubs and continues to be influential for his team.

“I always love the way Trevor Hunt plays,” his head coach said. “Nice to see Zakunda Fansler knock some down from outside. And Travis Way really set the tone for the first half for us with his defense and energy.”