File photo

The Ferndale Wildcats have advanced to next week’s Dick Niclai tournament after a narrow win in boys basketball at South Fork on Saturday night.

After finishing in a three-way tie for second in the Little 4 with the Cubs and Hoopa Warriors, the Wildcats traveled to Miranda for a tournament play-in game and won 72-69.

The victory sets up an opening-round tournament matchup against Hoopa on Monday night, a game the Cats will get to host.

Tip off his set for 7 p.m.

The loss ends the season for the Cubs, who put themselves in an early hole and trailed 10-0 before they got going.

Braeden Rice was instrumental in the win and scored a game-high 23 points, while teammate Parker Prior added 17 points as he continues his impressive season with the team.

Wesley Way led the way offensively for the home team and finished with a team-high 16 points, while teammate Shawn Schmidt added 15 points.

Zakunda Fansler also impressed for the Cubs and added 12 points, all on third-quarter 3-pointers to help his team overcome the slow start.

Martin Naverrette did a good job keeping South Fork in the game early and scored all of his 13 points in the opening half.

The Wildcats controlled the game for much of the night and opened up a double-digit lead on three different occasions.

However, the Cubs refused to go down easily and would battle back each time to make for an exciting finish.

The good news for the Cubs going forward is that most of their players will be back on hand next season.

“This is a great group to coach and I look forward to next year, basically returning the whole team,” South Fork head coach Taylor Morrow said.

File photo – The South Fork Cubs