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The Fortuna Huskies and St. Bernard’s Crusaders both saw memorable playoff runs end on Tuesday night as both bowed out of the CIF NorCal playoffs in girls basketball.

The Crusaders had to travel to Atherton to play Menlo School in Division-3 action and lost 45-41.

The Huskies, who were playing in the Division-4 tournament, also had to travel out of the area to face Rio Linda and lost 47-38.

The St. Bernard’s girls battled neck and neck with Menlo for much of the game and the scored was tied 23-23 at halftime and 33-33 heading into the fourth.

However, a fast start to the final period for the host school at both ends of the court saw them establish an eight-point lead midway through the quarter.

With senior Laila Florvilus and freshman Carli Baum leading the way, the Crusaders would close to within four points on a couple of occasion in the final two minutes but they were unable to get any closer.

“These ladies left it all on the court tonight and battled to the end,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “I am so proud of them. What a spectacular season.”

The Crusaders closed out with 29 wins and just three losses and have now won a remarkable 59 games over the past two season.

Florvilus finished with a team-high 21 points in her final high school game, while Baum and sophomore CJ Figas each added eight points, including two big 3-pointers by the latter late in the third quarter to help keep her team in contention.

“Florvilus battled through double teams all night and willed her way to 21 points to keep us in the game,” said Tomlin said, who added that Baum and Figas “both made big baskets to keep us in the game and give us a chance.”

All three seniors — a group that also includes Aliyah Vigil and Jocelyn Sundberg — will be missed and had a huge impact on the program, including a march to a state championship a year ago.

“(The seniors) have led this program to 59 wins, a state championship and a Niclai championship in their final two seasons,” Tomlin said. “We will miss them so much and will forever be proud of them.”

Florvilus who was the CalHiSports Division-4 State Player of the Year last winter, closed out her high school with 1,903 career points.

“She will go down as the best player in St. Bernard’s Academy history,” the coach added. “A state champion and a state player of the year.”

Submitted photo – The Fortuna Huskies

For the Huskies, meanwhile, Kalie Chittenden scored a team-high 12 points in their loss, while teammate Macee Marquez added 11 points.

“We battled tonight,” Fortuna head coach Tom Chapman said. “The girls did a great job handling their full-court press.”

The Huskies trailed by five at halftime (23-18) but rallied to tie the game 23-23 early in the third quarter.

But their offense went cold after that and the home team responded with 12 unanswered points to close out the period.

Free-throwing shooting made a big difference as the Huskies were just 4 of 14 on the night and Rio Linda was 15 of 26.

“Ultimately, the foul shots proved to be the difference in the game,” Chapman said.

Overall, however, it was a memorable playoff run for the Fortuna girls, who were the last standing Big 5 team after posting back-to-back road wins to open the postseason and made it further than any other Fortuna girls basketball team since 1981.

“It’s been an incredible journey with these student-athletes, coaches and families,” Chapman said. “It had been 44 years since Fortuna girls basketball played in an NCS semifinal game and 46 years since we played in the state playoffs (1979). We are very proud of our playoff run.”

With five straight road games this postseason, the Huskies traveled nearly 1800 miles.

Chapman also praised the contributions of his assistant coaches.

“Special recognition must be given to assistant coach Tony Miles and Kristie Christiansen,” he said. “They are selfless individuals who tirelessly work to support our student-athletes.”