Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – CJ Figas in action for the St. Bernard’s girls on Friday night.

St. Bernard’s, a school of less than 200 students, hosted a pair of Division-1 schools in the North Coast Section playoffs on Friday night.

And the Crusaders acquitted themselves well.

The SB girls held their nerve late in their game against Liberty out of Brentwood and won 50-44 to advance to the Division-3 bracket semifinals and guarantee themselves at least two more home games.

The St. Bernard’s boys hosted College Park from Pleasant Hill and lost 74-63 to end a memorable season for the Little 4 champs.

Seniors Alyssa Boham and Kayla Maples showcased their experience late in the girls game, with each hitting key baskets in a low-scoring fourth where points were at a premium.

Maples scored early in the period to stretch the home team’s advantage to seven, picking up an aggressive offensive rebound before scoring, but the Lions battled hard down the stretch, closing the gap to as few as three with a minute remaining.

Boham, who will compete in track and field at Oregon Tech after graduation this year, hit a big-time 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining to widen the gap to six, and after that there was no way back for the Liberty girls.

“Our two seniors made the two biggest plays of the game (in the fourth quarter),” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “I could not be prouder of those two awesome seniors.”

Carli Baum also stepped up big late in the game, as the sophomore point guard continues to play beyond her years and impact this team in a big way.

Baum scored scored five of her 13 points in the fourth quarter including hitting two clutch free throws to ice the game with eight seconds remaining.

Samantha Sundberg also impressed for the home team and No. 1 seeds in the bracket.

The junior team captain, who has been one of the Crusaders’ most consistent players all winter, finished with a team-high 15 points.

Fellow team captain CJ Figas added 12 points, while the clutch Maples finished with five points.

“I am so proud of these amazing Lady Crusaders,” Tomlin said.

The win sets up a semifinal showdown against No. 4 Miramonte on Tuesday night at St. Bernard’s at 7 p.m.

The Miramonte girls defeated Archie Williams 68-47 in their quarterfinal on Friday night.

If the SB girls win on Tuesday, they will host the Division-3 championship game next Friday.

If they lose, they would play either No. 2 Benicia or No. 11 Mission San Jose in the bracket third-place game next Friday, with the winner of that game then advancing to the NorCal playoffs along with the two section finalists.

With their win, the Crusaders improved to 21-7.

The St. Bernard’s boys, meanwhile, saw a memorable season come to an end in their loss to D-1 College Park.

Playing against a school with a student population of just under 2,000 was never going to be easy for the second smallest school in the H-DNL, but with a record of 24-3 coming into the game, SB head coach Pat Shanahan and his players were not complaining about the challenge they faced.

“Unfortunately this historic season has come to an end,” Shanahan said. “We belonged in Division 3 and we had our sights set on a deep playoff run. It just was not in the cards tonight.”

Senior Carson Costa did everything in his power to keep the playoff run going.

Costa, one of multiple SB players who have played at an MVP level this winter, kept his team in the game early when the visitors were shooting lights out from beyond the arc — the Falcons hit six 3-pointers in the opening six minutes.

Costa scored 17 of his team-high 31 point in the opening quarter.

“Carson Costa was amazing tonight,” Shanahan said of the senior, who also had seven rebounds. “He scored at will against a very good defensive team.”

Fellow senior Liam Dyer also closed out his high school career in impressive fashion, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Garret Shanahan had a big all-around game, adding eight rebounds, six points and six assists.

“Liam showed why he is one of the best players in the state,” Pat Shanahan said “He garnered a lot of attention, which helped his teammates.”

The Crusaders trailed by six after the opening quarter and things would get worse, as they carried a 12-point deficit into halftime.

But a senior-laden SB team used all of that experience to battle back after the break, putting up 26 points in the third quarter and taking the lead.

“Proud of this team and their heart that was on display tonight,” Pat Shanahan said. “We believed in each other coming out of that locker room and were on a mission to get the game back. And we did.

“However College Park responded with a run of their own, and during that run we had some good looks that just didn’t fall.

“That’s the game of basketball.”

Two other seniors also had a big impact for the home team.

Tyler Hinrichs added five points and eight rebounds, while Prince Latimer returned from a long injury layoff and made his presence felt despite his lack of recent game time.

“It was great to have Prince out on the court again with us,” Pat Shanahan said, “I think he played a great game.”

The seniors certainly left their mark on the program, winning three straight Little 4 championships and becoming the first team from the H-DNL to ever win conference, section and NorCal titles in the same year as juniors.

“This senior class is special,” Pat Shanahan said. “From the first day of practice they have been locked in. And (they) set the tone for our incredible season.”