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

By Ray Hamill — The Crusaders had all the motivation they needed on Friday night.

Three days after a disappointing North Coast Section semifinal performance against Dougherty Valley, the St. Bernard’s girls responded in style with a dominating night in the Division-3 third-place game against Fortuna in front of a big crowd at St. Bernard’s.

The SB girls were clearly fired up from the opening tip and cruised to a comfortable 54-29 win in a game that was decided long before halftime.

The win was their 29th of the season and leaves the Crusaders one victory from a remarkable second consecutive 30-win season.

“I am so proud of these amazing Lady Crusaders,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “They bounced back after a disappointing loss on Tuesday and put together a great team effort to get back in the win column.

“These girls have great internal leadership and they motivate each other to be better every day.”

They stormed out of the starting gates and never looked back, opening up a 19-1 lead six minutes in, capped by a Makinsey Lemley 3-pointer.

They led 23-3 after the opening quarter and held the Huskies without a field goal until well into the second period, with their outstanding pressure defense setting the tone.

“Right away we struggled with their pressure and got behind quick,” Fortuna head coach Tom Chapman said. “It is very difficult to recover from a big deficit against a team as good as the No. 1 seeded SB.”

The Crusaders, who had a 37-10 advantage at halftime, were led by Laila Florvilus’ 20 points, but with such a big lead Tomlin was able to go deep to his bench and nine of his players finished in the scoring column.

Standout sophomore Samantha Sundberg added nine points in the win, while Alyssa Boham finished with six points and CJ Figas and Jocelyn Sundberg each chipped in five points.

Senior Aliyah Vigil, as usual, helped set the tone on defense.

The win was the Crusaders’ 12th in 12 games against H-DNL opponents this season, which includes victories over all of the other eight league programs and a 6-0 record against Big 5 schools.

And they achieved that against a very good league this year, with the majority of the schools ranked high in the NCS all winter.

“What this team accomplished going undefeated against the H-DNL is a great accomplishment because the H-DNL is so strong right now,” Tomlin said. 

“To win 29 games is special and now we have a chance to win 30 games for the second consecutive season.”

Kalie Chittenden led the Huskies with eight points, while Olivia Scilascci added six points and Mariah Bravo had four.

Despite their two losses this week, it has been a good postseason for the Huskies, who won back-to-back road games last week to reach the semifinals.

It was also the first time the Huskies have won a second-round NCS game in at least 20 years, since MaxPreps started keeping records.

A tough NCS division should also help prepare them for next week’s state playoffs, with the NorCal brackets and seeds set to be announced on Sunday.

The Huskies are the last remaining Big 5 team still playing this year, boys or girls, and could go on a good run through the NorCals depending on the seed they receive and the bracket they end up in.

“We will use tonight’s game as a good opportunity for us to prepare for the upcoming NorCals,” Chapman added. 

“Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s game, I am very proud of the team for finishing fourth in the NCS Division-3 bracket. 

“It’s a great accomplishment for us and we are still playing basketball in March.”

Tomlin also had words of praise for the Fortuna players.

“I also want to compliment coach Chapman and the Huskies and wish them the best of luck in the NorCal playoffs,” he said.

The Crusaders will also find out their seed and bracket for the NorCals on Sunday as they look to defend the Division-4 state championship they won a year ago.

They will likely be included in the D-3 field, but could end up as high as Division-2 or perhaps get another high seed in Division 4.

“We are excited to find out Sunday where we will be seeded in the state tournament and we look forward to an opportunity to defend our state championship,” Tomlin said.