Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The St. Bernard’s players celebrate their championship win on Saturday night.

The St. Bernard’s boys are North Coast Section champions in basketball for the sixth time in school history and no other program in the H-DNL, boys or girls, can claim that.

On Saturday night, the top seeds in the Division-6 bracket welcomed No. 2 St. Vincent de Paul to Eureka and won 56-39 in front of a packed gym at St. Bernard’s.

The win was a relatively easy one for the Crusaders, who had the game well in hand for much of the second half and led by as many as 20 midway through the fourth quarter.

And they achieved it with a good all-around team performance.

“I felt like we played our most complete game,” head coach Issac Gildea said. “We were moving the basketball, we played good defense and I thought we rebounded well. We played tough tonight and it was one of our best games.”

That’s good news for a team that appears to be peaking at the right time, and they will now turn their attention to next week’s NorCal tournament, with the seeds and bracket set to be announced on Sunday.

After the game, the players and coaches celebrated on the court with their fans and teachers.

“These moments only come once in a while and you’ve got to take advantage of them,” said Gildea, who also was in charge of the team when the Crusaders last won an NCS championship in 2022.

Four different St. Bernard’s players finished with at least nine points in the win, showcasing the balance on a championship team that features no seniors.

“It’s kind of surprising we’re this far along,” Gildea said of his junior-heavy roster and a team that should be even better a year from now.

The always-dangerous Liam Dyer scored a team-high 20 points in the win and surpassed the 1,000 career points mark, while Prince Latimer added nine points, five rebounds and three steals with what was arguably his best game of the year.

“Prince had his most complete game , defensively and offensively,” Gildea said. “He really was sharing the basketball and he broke their defense down and he was finding people.”

Trenten Hagler and Carson Costa each added 10 points for the Crusaders, who improved to 22-5 on the season, while the hard-working Garrett Shanahan added 12 rebounds, five points and four assists and once again played a crucial role for his team in the paint.

“Garrett controlled the glass,” said Gildea, who described the sophomore as an intelligent basketball player. “And Liam is on another level sometimes.”

Assistant coach Pat Shanahan felt the big difference in the game was the SB defense.

“We came to play today as a team and it showed, especially on the defensive end,” he said. “Hopefully our boys will bottle this up as we now know what it feels and looks like to play tough and aggressive defense for four quarters.

“St. Vincent is an excellent team with many offensive weapons and a balanced approach to the game.

“We respect the heck out of them and brought our best game of the season to achieve this result.”

Costa hit some key baskets when the visitors began to make a run and also “played extremely hard defensively,” according to Pat Shanahan.

It remains to be seen what seed the Crusaders receive on Sunday, but it’s likely they will get at least one or perhaps two more home games as long as they keep winning.

And judging by Saturday’s performance and their march through the NCS playoffs — their three section wins came by an average of almost 19 points — they will be a tough prospect for any opponent in the NorCal tournament.

“I think we’re a better basketball team than we were at the beginning of the year,” Gildea said. “Our bench energy is amazing and the players know their roles, and that’s the key for us. It’s what can we do for the team?”

Gildea also praised the contributions of the fans and school administration and the student section in particular.

“Our student section is like no other,” the coach said. “And all of our teachers and the administration, they connect with the student-athletes.”