Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Wednesday’s game at St. Bernard’s.

It took the Crusaders a little while to find their groove on Senior Night, but once they did it was business as usual.

Hosting South Fork in their penultimate Little 4 game, St. Bernard’s rolled to an 81-48 win to clinch the conference title outright and secure a top seed and first-round bye for next week’s Dick Niclai tournament.

With the win, the Crusaders improved to 5-0 in the Little 4 and 21-2 overall, while South Fork dropped to 1-4 and 11-13 but remain the hunt for a place in next week’s H-DNL postseason tourney.

“Our first senior night on Coach Robby Court ended up a success,” St. Bernard’s head coach Pat Shanahan said, referring to the new court at St. Bernard’s. “The festivities at the outset brought smiles and support for our incredible seniors and their families.”

Several of the seniors stepped up in the win, including Carson Costa, who finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Liam Dyer had a double-double just four days after scoring 52 points at Arcata, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

But it took the home team a while to get going.

“It wasn’t really until the last three minutes of the second quarter did we start to play the way we want to,” Shanahan said. “South Fork got after us in the first quarter especially. They were not intimidated and attacked. Credit to them and their effort all game.”

Luke Brunton also impressed in the win and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, as did Garrett Shanahan, who added 10 points.

“In the end, Carson’s and Liam’s shotmaking was too much,” the SB head coach said. “As was Luke’s penetration and passing.”

Tyler Hinrichs also had a big night and was instrumental in leading the team defense, as he has been doing for much of the winter.

“It’s no secret Tyler anchors our defense,” Pat Shanahan said of the senior, who finished the game with six steals and five assists. “He did it once again tonight.”

Burke Morrow and Tony Pena gave the home team some valuable minutes off the bench, while Dang Le also had some big moments.

“Dang got to the hole when all else broke down on the offensive end and finished strong,” Pat Shanahan said.

Next up, on Friday night, the Crusaders will travel to Hoopa to close out conference play, while South Fork hosts Ferndale.

No stats were available for South Fork.

Coaches are encouraged to forward details to Humboldt Sports if they would like their players included in our roundups.