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By Ray Hamill — After losing a key component of their team early in the season, the St. Bernard’s JV girls answered the call.

The Crusaders recently closed out the 2024/25 basketball season with a record of 16-6 overall and were a perfect 6-0 in the Little 4 on their way to claiming the conference championship.

But it wasn’t all easy going for the young SB girls, who had to overcome some adversity early in the campaign and rise to the challenge.

The Crusaders lost their best player, freshman Carli Baum, early in the campaign after the talented point guard was called up to the varsity team, where she is enjoying an outstanding season.

But the move would eventually pay dividends for the JVs.

“When she got moved up, it was a great challenge for our girls,” head coach Katy Freeman said. “They had to change and learn to do things they weren’t used to doing or ready to do. 

“It turned out to be a very positive thing for our team.”

Over the course of the season, the St. Bernard’s players developed a great team bond, and that would catapult them to greater heights and a well-deserved conference championship.

“They had to really dig deep,” Freeman added. “And we really came together great and trusted each other, and respected one another, and became a tight unit.”

Forward Malia Masayos and guard Leah Stevens in particular helped lead their teammates through the adversity.

Freeman challenged the influential duo to take on a leadership role, and both young players embraced the new role.

“I challenged them with really stepping out and becoming team leaders, to help their teammates when they were feeling down or discouraged, and they became the heart of the team,” the coach said.

As the season progressed, the roster grew together.

“We really had a great bonding year,” the coach added. “There was a lot of team camaraderie and respect.”

The Crusaders had a balanced lineup with some good offense and good defense, but it was the latter that really propelled them to the championship.

“We didn’t have a weak link on our team,” Freeman said. “Everyone that came in worked so hard on defense. We never quit, we pressed hard and we transitioned hard.

“I’d say our defense was the strength of our team, and we had some amazing shooters — some really great 3-point shooters — and they trusted one another. There was no ‘I’ in the team. Nobody was a ball hog. We really shared the ball well and that was nice to see.”

In addition to Masayos and Stevens, each of whom has been called up to the varsity team for the postseason, the roster also included Logan Tallman, Kyna Tupua, Paula Bullock, Gabby Qiao, Chloe Grunden, Makaylah Tinkham, Mary Stark and Baylee Dalby, as well as assistant coach Eric Stark.

And it was a roster the head coach certainly enjoyed working with.

“I was so proud to be a part of this group,” she said. “They developed into an amazing fun group to coach.”