Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Two of the four H-DNL teams to qualify for the state playoffs in basketball will open at home this week.

The NorCal and SoCal brackets were announced late Sunday afternoon, with the games set to begin on Tuesday night.

Fresh off their league record-tying fifth North Coast Section championship win on Saturday night, the Ferndale girls have received the top seed in the NorCal Division-6 bracket.

They will open the eight-team bracket at home against No. 8 Fall River on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

The St. Bernard’s boys will also open at home.

The Crusaders, who also won an NCS championship on Saturday night, were handed the No. 3 seed in their eight-team NorCal Division-6 tournament and will face No. 6 Biggs, also on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The NorCal tournaments are the end of the road in Division 6, with no SoCal D-6 tournaments and no state championship games.

The St. Bernard’s girls and Fortuna girls also have advanced to the state playoffs.

The Crusaders, who placed third in the NCS Division-3 tournament, were placed in the 16-team Division-3 NorCal bracket and received the No. 11 seed.

They will open at No. 6 Menlo School in Atherton on Tuesday night at 7.

The winner of that game will play either No. 3 Marin Catholic or No. 14 Christopher in the NorCal quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Fortuna girls, who placed fourth in the NCS Division-3 tournament, are seeded No. 14 in the 16-team Division-4 NorCal tournament and will open at No. 3 Rio Lindo on Tuesday night at 7

If they win, the Fortuna girls would advance to play either No. 6 Marysville or No. 11 Prospect two days later in the NorCal quarterfinals.

If the Ferndale girls win their opener on Wednesday, they could be in for an NCS rematch in the semifinal round.

Saturday’s beaten NCS finalists, Cornerstone Christian, received the No. 5 seed in the same bracket and will play No. 4 Sacramento Adventist in the quarterfinal, with the winner of that game possibly facing a trip to Ferndale in the semifinals next Saturday, providing the Cats win their opener.

If the St. Bernard’s boys win their tournament opener, they will play either No. 2 Stone Ridge Christian or No. 7 Point Arena in their semifinal, also on Saturday..

The Division-6 NorCal championship games will be held on Tuesday, March 11.

The Division-3 and Division-4 semifinals will be held on Saturday, and the NorCal finals in those brackets will be played on Tuesday, March 11.

The D-3 state final is set for Friday, March 14., with the D-4 state final the following day.