Team defense continued to play a key role for the Ferndale Wildcats at this week’s West Coast Jamboree.

With their offense still showing signs of inconsistency, the Ferndale girls relied on some good defense to win two of their three games in the Topaz bracket at the tournament.

The Wildcats opened with back-to-back wins over St. Vincent de Paul (46-40) and Pacheco (33-27), before losing the bracket championship game to Division-2 Maria Carrillo in overtime by a score of 58-55.

Senior Michaela Ellsmore stole the show in the final, scoring a game-high 22 points and earning Player of the Championship Game honors.

Fellow seniors Tinnley Pidgeon and Madison Gossi each added 10 points in Tuesday’s final and were both named to the all-tournament team.

The Cats showed a lot of character in Tuesday’s final, battling back from a seven-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to give themselves a shot at knocking off a school with more than 10 times the student population of Ferndale High.

“The girls really held their own against a larger and taller team,” Ferndale head coach Chris Ardrey said. “I was really impressed with them.”

Foul calls didn’t help matters, with Ferndale penalized 29 times and Maria Carrillo called just nine times.

Pidgeon, who has ben one of the most consistent players in the entire H-DNL this season, added 18 points in the Cats’ tournament opener against St. Vincent de Paul, while Madison Gossi added 16 points.

Gossi continued to impress against Pacheco and finished with a team-best 13 points, while Ellsmore chipped in seven points.

But it was the team defense that set the tone in the opening two games, much as it has through the opening month of the season.

“We’ve held our own when our offense hasn’t been clicking,” Ardrey said of the defense. “It’s been there all year except for a couple of games.”

The coach added that he was impressed with the resiliency his players showed against a tough Maria Carrillo team and the manner in which they battled back despite the lopsided foul calls.

After battling injuries for much of the opening month of the season, the Wildcats are getting healthy at an opportune time, with their Little 4 opener now just nine days away.

Senior Quinn Stokesberry was back in action at the tournament after missing the opening few weeks, while freshman Abagail Gossi is expected to return from injury in time for conference play.

“Quinn Stokesberry played over the weekend, and she’s getting her feet wet,” Ardrey said.

The Cats, who are expected to challenge St. Bernard’s for the Little 4 title, will continue their preparation for conference play at the Cottonwood tournament this weekend, opening against West valley on Friday night at 7:30.

They will also host Fortuna on Tuesday night in their final Little 4 tune-up game, before tipping off conference play with a huge showdown at St. Bernard’s three days later.