Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The South Fork Cubs played in the opening game at the Arcata tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The Ferndale Wildcats got their new season off to a winning start at the Sandy Mac tournament in Cloverdale on Thursday, defeating Round Valley 50-19.

Also in action on Thursday, the St. Bernard’s dominated Montgomery in their season opener at the Sonoma Valley Dragons Classic and won 52-16, while South Fork opened the Arcata tournament with a 62-10 loss to Chico, and Fortuna lost 56-48 to Durham at the Colusa tournament.

Arcata and McKinleyville both won their tournament openers at Arcata’s Tahnia Campbell Classic to set up a semifinal showdown between the two rivals on Friday night at 8:30.

Arcata defeated St. Mary’s 66-32 and McKinleyville defeated Ukiah 52-40.

Fresh off an impressive fall on the soccer fields, senior Michaela Ellsmore impressed in Ferndale’s season opener and finished with a team-high 18 points.

But she was far from the only standout in a Ferndale jersey.

“We looked a little shaky at the beginning, but that’s to be expected,” Ferndale head coach Chris Ardrey said. “We passed the ball well and played pretty good defense.”

Gianna Regli and Abagail Gossi each also impressed in the win and added eight points apiece, while Tinnley Pidgeon chipped in seven points.

But it was the team defense that really set the tone, as the Cats held Round Valley to an average of less than five points a quarter.

“I thought our defense did good the whole game, and that’s what made the difference,” Ardrey said.

The Ferndale girls will continue tournament play against the host school on Friday night at 8 p.m.

St. Bernard’s 52, Montgomery 16

The Crusaders dominated their season opener at the Sonoma Valley Dragons Classic on Thursday as they get set for a busy and challenging day on Friday.

Samantha Sundberg got the new campaign off to an impressive start with a game-high 20 points in the win, while teammates CJ Figas and Carli Baum each added 12 points.

Macie Wantt chipped in six points.

On Friday, the SB girls will play Benicia in the tournament semifinal at 5 p.m., before making the short trip to the Cardinal Newman Showcase to play Division-I California at 8 p.m.

The Crusaders are filling in for a team that had to drop out of the showcase at the last minute.

“Both of these games will be big-time tests for our team in the early season and will make us better,” St. Bernards head coach Matt Tomlin said.