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By Ray Hamill — It wasn’t just the team success that made it a season to remember for the St. Bernard’s JVs girls basketball team.

First-year head coach Sejay Sarti and her young team lost just once in the Little 4 on their way to a conference championship.

But that was just half the story for this group of Crusaders.

Asked what she liked most about the team, Sarti responded with a chuckle.

“They’re so funny,” she said. “They’re giddy, they’re funny, and they want to learn, which I always enjoy.”

Clearly, the coach and her players enjoyed their winter together.

But they also succeeded on the court, growing in stature as the campaign progressed, especially on offense.

This was a team that struggled to score many points over the first few weeks of the season.

But something clicked along the way and the 10 players on the roster showed plenty of improvement later in the campaign.

“I think our offense continued to gain momentum throughout the season,” Sarti said. “I think we continued to grow the more they played together. Our offense grew tremendously throughout the season. That was a big jump for us.”

The young Crusaders competed in three tournaments during the season, traveling to Fortuna, Eureka and McKinleyville, and it was at the latter of those when they really started to jell as a team.

The SB girls won the McKinleyville tournament with big wins over three Big 5 schools — Fortuna, Del Norte and McKinleyville — and they carried that momentum and confidence into conference play in the new year.

“I think the highlight of our season was winning the McKinleyville tournament,” the coach said. “They are all big schools and we had lost to all three of those teams early in the season.

“It gave us a good push going into league.”

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That helped propel the young Crusaders to a conference title, giving the program a JV and varsity championship sweep in the Little 4.

But it wasn’t just the tournament win that helped this team grow into a formidable unit.

So too did the play of several of the girls, most notably freshman Lulu Vainuku.

The young point guard showed a lot of composure on and off the court and quickly established herself as a team leader with a bright future.

“She was our team captain and our team leader but she easily took on that leadership role like she had done it a billion times before,” Sarti said. “She gathered the team and pushed them to do better.”

Logan Tallman, one of four juniors on the team, also played a key leadership role before being called up to the varsity roster for the playoffs.

“She continued to show up,” Sarti said of the shooting guard. “She was hurt at the beginning of the season, but came back right before league started and made really important shots for us in our close games.”

The championship roster also included juniors Bailey Dalby-Edwards, Kyna Tupua and Mary Stark, sophomore Makayla Tinkham and freshmen Paige Cherry, Mercy Tupua, Macy Amen-Sherman and Sailor Storer.

And while some of the Crusaders will move up to the varsity team next year, Sarti says she thoroughly enjoyed her time with this group of young players.

“I am so thankful for being able to coach them,” she said. “I loved being around them and I look forward to next year.”