Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday’s game at McKinleyville.

It was a good day for a couple of Little 4 teams in non-conference games against their Big 5 rivals.

At McKinleyville, the Ferndale Wildcats enjoyed a big second half on the way to beating the Panthers 56-42, while at St. Bernard’s the host Crusaders got the better of Fortuna 64-51.

Also on Saturday, Eureka traveled to Hoopa and won 57-22.

It was another good team win for the SB girls, who were led by Samantha Sundberg.

The junior standout continued to impress and finished with a game-high 16 points, as the Crusaders improved to 17-6 on the season.

“This was a good team victory with balanced scoring,” said head coach Matt Tomlin, who added “Sundberg again played outstanding and continues to lead our team offensively, but it was nice to see so many other players get in the scoring column today.”

Evalynn Little had a good game for the Huskies, who dropped to 16-8.

The junior scored a team-high 12 points, while her teammates Tatiana Olson, Macee Marquez and Kaleya Parkinson each chipped in eight points.

“We played a decent game against a talented St. Bernard’s team, but gave them too many second-chance opportunities,” Fortuna head coach Tom Chapman said. “The team did a good job of recognizing mismatches, but we could not quite execute as consistently as we need to against a good team.”

Alyssa Boham added 12 points for the Crusaders, while CJ Figas finished with 10 points and Carli Baum and Tally Williams each scored seven points.

Baum and Williams also impressed in other ways.

“I want to praise Tally Williams and Carli Baum, who both took on tough defensive assignments today and played great,” Tomlin said. 

Kayla Maples chipped in six points for SB.

Taylor Heussler also had seven points for the Huskies, who have a huge upcoming week in the Big 5 as they look to secure a Dick Niclai tournament berth, with matchups against Eureka and Del Norte.

“As we enter the final week of league play we have two very difficult must-win games,” Chapman said. “The team is ready for the challenge.”

The Crusaders will play another non-conference game at Del Norte on Monday.

Ferndale 56, McKinleyville 42

The Wildcats trailed by four points at halftime after a disappointing second quarter but they quickly took control of the game after the break, including outscoring the home team 11-3 in the fourth quarter.

“For three quarters, I thought we did good,” Ferndale head coach Chris Ardrey said. “In the second we came out flat, but kudos to McKinleyville for kicking our butts in the second quarter.

“We made some adjustments at halftime, and I told the girls, it’s a new 16 minutes, and I thought we got after it better and were moving the ball better.”

The win was the Cats’ second over McKinleyville this year and their third over a Big 5 school, as they improved to 14-8.

The Panthers had a disappointing second half, managing just 13 points over the final two quarters.

“We hung with them but couldn’t put the ball in the basket after half,” McKinleyville head coach Alisha Hunter said. “Ferndale hit their 3s after multiple turnovers in the third quarter.”

Michaela Ellsmore led the way for the visitors and scored a game-high 17 points, while the always-impressive Tinnley Pidgeon added 14 points and Madison Gossi chipped in nine points.

“I like the way we adjusted and spread it out a little more on offense,” Ardrey said of his team’s second-half performance.

Teresa Catana also impressed in the win and had seven points, while Gianna Regli did a good job in the paint against the McKinleyville bigs.

Freshman Cabella Carper also impressed for the Panthers, who dropped to 12-12 on the season, finishing with six rebounds and five points, while teammate Liana Stumpf added six points.

Maggie Morris also had four points and four rebounds in the loss.

“Our defense and rebounding have been what’s kept us in games, but our turnovers and low team shooting performance just get us with our backs against the wall,” Hunter said. “Proud of how far we’ve come.”

Eureka 57, Hoopa 22

After a low-scoring opening half at Hoopa on Saturday night, the Eureka Loggers pulled away after the break on the way to a comfortable win over the Warriors.

Madelyn Fazio led the way and scored a team-high 12 points, all of them in the third quarter to help Eureka take control.

The Loggers outscored the home team 24-7 for the period.

Eureka junior Tiarah Maualuga also had a big all-around night as she continues her impressive season and finished with a double-double.

Maualuga had 11 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.

Nashya Williams added 15 rebounds, six points and five steals, as the Loggers improved to 15-8.

No stats were immediately available for Hoopa, which dropped to 8-14.