Submitted photo – The Ferndale players and coaches celebrate their NCS championship on Saturday night.

The Ferndale Wildcats might be better known as a football school around the North Coast Section, but their girls basketball program is doing its best to change that perception.

On Saturday night, the Ferndale girls won the North Coast Section Division-6 championship with a gutsy, physical performance that the football team would have been proud of.

The Cats welcomed Cornerstone Christian to Ferndale High and prevailed 53-51 in front of a packed gym, securing their second section crown in four years and showcasing just why they are now an NCS powerhouse.

The section championship is the program’s fifth all-time, which ties St. Bernard’s for most by an H-DNL girls team.

All five of those championships have come in the past 13 seasons and no other H-DNL girls team can match that level of success in recent times.

And they achieved it with a strong defensive team performance and an offense that did just enough to out-play a very good Cornerstone Christian team.

Senior Emily Sauers and sophomore Gianna Regli set the tone at both ends of the court and caused problems in the paint for their opponents all night long.

“I think (what impressed me the most) was just the way we played overall,” head coach Chris Ardrey said. “We talked about our defense and we just let the kids let it rip on defense.

“I thought we did a good pressuring the ball.”

It was a strategy that worked against a Cougars team that had won 10 straight games and had averaged over 62 points a game in that run.

In particular, Regli and Sauers rose to the challenge.

“Our bigs are always fighting, and they had some good athletes on that team,” Ardrey said. “(Our bigs) were welcoming the contact, and once they started doing that, we played well.

“Our defense played great team basketball.”

The offense played a key role as well, with dynamic junior guard Michaela Ellsmore opening things up for her teammates with some pinpoint shooting from 3-point range in the first half.

Ellsmore finished with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, two of them coming late in the first half to help keep the visitors at bay just when they were starting to find their own rhythm on offense.

Madison Gossi also had a big night for the Wildcats and finished with a team-high 15 points, while Clara Albee added seven points.

“We had a couple of great scrimmages (at practice) this week, and the girls were ready,” Ardrey said. “And being at home, that definitely helps

“I thought we did well at both ends of the court.”

The game was still in the balance down the stretch with just two points separating the teams in the final few seconds.

But the hosts and top seeds in the bracket lived up to their billing and held their nerve to secure the section championship and a piece of H-DNL history.

It was Ardrey’s first NCS championship with the program in just his second year in charge.

“It’s really sweet getting it in my second year, but it’s all about the athletes,” the coach said. “I’ve got some great kids and I’m rally happy for them.

“They definitely played great team basketball.”

The Wildcats will now turn their attention towards next week’s NorCal playoffs, with the seeds and brackets set to be announced on Sunday.