By Ray Hamill — It was a night that will go down as one of the most memorable in St. Bernard’s sports history.

It was also a night that was a year in the making, and a night that reminded us all why local high school girls basketball is so special, and why this group of resilient Crusaders are going to be a force once again in the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs.

More than anything, it was also a night that sophomore CJ Figas will remember for the rest of her life.

Figas hit the game-winning basket as time expired to break a late tie and lift the Crusaders to a 46-44 win over Arcata in an enthralling Dick Niclai championship game at Lumberjack Arena.

It certainly wasn’t easy and the SB girls had to rally from a 13-point deficit early in the second half on the way to victory and the school’s first-ever girls Niclai title.

There were several big performances, including the always brilliant Laila Florvilus, as the Crusaders grew into the game on their way to knocking off a Big 5 opponent in thrilling fashion for the second straight night.

But the St. Bernard’s players rose to the occasion, no one more so than Figas, whose impact on the team has grown over the second half of the season.

And with the game and a piece of history on the line she did not disappoint.

“What can I say about CJ Figas,” SB head coach Matt Tomlin said. “She’s an amazing young lady, an amazing teammate, and what a moment for her and what a moment for our team.”

This is a program that won a state championship a year ago — the first ever by an H-DNL team — but the Crusaders’ biggest goal this season was to finally get over the hump in the Niclai tournament, especially after coming so close 12 months ago in a final loss to Eureka.

“We won a state championship last year, but I felt our No. 1 goal this year was to win the Niclai,” Tomlin said. “It was absolutely a goal of ours to win the Niclai, and it wasn’t easy. We had back-to-back heavyweight fights.”

The loss was particularly tough for an Arcata team that went unbeaten on the way to winning this year’s Big 5 championship and a team that lost a heartbreaker to the Crusaders in last year’s CIF Division-4 NorCal championship game, just days before the SB girls went on to win the state title.

But they still have plenty to play for this season, including a potential NCS championship and more.

“As emotionally charged as this game is, our vision is now ready for Sunday to see where we get placed in a bracket. We’re ready to roll,” Arcata head coach Charlie Espinoza said. “I know theses girls are feeling it right now, but they’re going to use it as fuel.

“Hopefully we’ve got an NCS title coming and hopefully a state bid coming. That’s the goal.”

The Tigers started the stronger of the two teams and looked to be in control early on at both ends of the floor.

They led 15-4 after the opening quarter thanks in large part to the industrious play of the Wolford twins, Mae and Tae, who combined for 25 of their team’s points in the loss.

Mayleah Jackson also was hugely influential for the Tigers, who continued to keep the Crusaders at arm’s length through the second quarter and maintained an 11-point advantage going into halftime.

Addison Wingate also impressed for the Big 5 champs and stretched her team’s lead to 13 with a basket early in the third quarter.

But the Tigers were unable to keep their opponents down and St. Bernard’s would go on 9-0 run to pull within four midway through the third quarter, with Florvilus scoring six of those points and Figas adding a big 3-pointer.

They would close out the quarter with four unanswered points and outscored the Tigers 13-4 for the period.

The momentum continued to shift towards the Crusaders early in the fourth when senior Jocelyn Sundberg nailed a huge 3-pointer to give her team a 36-35 lead and Tomlin believes that was one of the most decisive baskets of the game.

“I felt that was the first time our team believed they could win the game,” the St. Bernard’s coach said. 

The Crusaders would stretch the lead to four (32-38) midway through the quarter, capping a 22-5 run.

But with their backs to the wall, the Tigers responded, with the Wolford sisters leading the way.

A basket by each sister would tie the game at 42-42 with a little over a minute remaining.

Florvilus and freshman teammate Carli Baum each added a free throw in the final minute to give the Little 4 champs a two-point cushion, before a pair of clutch free throws by Mae Wolford tied the game again with just 15 seconds to go.

That, however, set the stage for Figas, who took a pass from teammate Samantha Sundberg and hit the winning basket right as time expired.

“I’m super proud of my girls,” Tomlin said. “They stayed together as a team, they kept fighting and they kept picking each other up. And they did it against a very well-coached Arcata team.”

Florvilus finished with a game-high 21 points, while Figas added 11 points and Baum and Jocelyn Sundberg each chipped in five.

Mae Wolford scored a team-high 15 points for Arcata, while her sister added 10 points and Wingate had eight.

Impressive Arcata sophomore Kyla Kinyon had six points and Jackson had five.

“I’m so proud of these girls, man, I mean they’re tough,” Espinoza said of his players. “They compete and they just showed that we’ve grown a lot from last year, to play in a situation like this and an environment like this and to stay in it from start to finish, I’m so proud of them.

“I like that we celebrated each other, I like that we had energy throughout the game, I like that it doesn’t matter if a girl is playing or if a girl is on the bench, they were engaged, and that’s all that I could ask for. They supported one another.”