Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Macie Want in action for the Crusaders against Miramonte on Tuesday night.

By Ray Hamill — A late rally came up just short for the Crusaders in their North Coast Section Division-3 girls basketball semifinal against Miramonte at St. Bernard’s on Tuesday night.

The home team and top seeds in the bracket trailed by 20 points (39-19) in the third quarter but would battle back to pull within one point late in the game, before ultimately falling 58-54

The loss ends any chance of a Section championship, but the Crusaders’ season continues this weekend.

St. Bernard’s will host Mission San Jose in the bracket third-place game, with the winner advancing to next week’s state playoffs along with the two finalists.

“I was so proud of the toughness, fight and grit we showed in the second half,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said after Tuesday’s game. 

“We will focus on Mission San Jose High School the next two days in practice and prepare for an epic showdown in Crusader Gym on Friday night.

“Our girls will be ready to battle on Friday night as we try to make it into the state playoffs.”

The Matadors led by four after the opening quarter and began to put some distance between the two teams in the second, stretching the advantage to 13 (29-16) at halftime.

Samantha Sundberg did her best to keep the Crusaders in contention.

The sharpshooting and hard-working junior finished with a team-high 25 points in the loss.

“Samantha Sundberg has been a superstar in this program since she stepped on campus as a freshman,” Tomlin said. “She carried us with 25 points tonight, as she made big shot after big shot all night.”

Tally Williams and Carli Baum each added nine points for St. Bernard’s, while Sariah Vainuku finished with six points and CJ Figas chipped in five points.

Two players in particular gave the Crusaders a big spark off the bench and helped key the second-half rally.

“In the second half we got big-time performance off the bench from Tally Williams and Sariah Vainuku,” Tomlin said. “They both brought toughness, rebounding and made big shots to help rally the team. I am proud of both those young ladies.”

With the loss, the Crusaders dropped to 21-6.

In the other Division-3 semifinal on Tuesday, No. 2 seed Benicia beat Mission San Jose 59-48.

Mission San Jose is 17-12.

Friday night’s game is set for 7 p.m.