File photo – The three St. Bernard’s senior co-captains, pictured looking on from the bench during Wednesday’s first-round NCS matchup, continued to play a huge role for the Crusaders in Saturday’s win over St. Vincent de Paul.

There were were mixed results for St. Bernard’s in the North Coast Section basketball playoffs on Saturday night, with the girls team marching on after a another dominating victory, and the boys team falling just short despite a late comeback.

The girls defeated St. Vincent de Paul at home by a score of 64-21, while the boys lost to Jewish Community in San Francisco by a score of 55-48.

Girls

St. Vincent de Paul 21, St. Bernard’s 64

The Crusaders continued to live up to their billing as the No. 1 seed in their bracket, with a second straight comprehensive win.

In two playoffs games this week, the St. Bernard’s girls have scored 122 points, while allowing a stingy 46, an average of just 5.75 a quarter.

“Great team effort tonight,” St. Bernard’s head coach Mark Gardner said. “Our girls displayed great toughness.”

The win also now guarantees the team a place in this year’s NorCals.

The Crusaders quickly took control of Saturday’s game, outscoring the visitors 34-15 in the opening half to end the game as a contest.

Led by senior captains Maddie Costa, Emily Gardner and Jasa Sisemore, the St. Bernard’s girls have now won 16 of their past 18 games, with their only losses in that spell coming against Division-III NCS semifinalists Eureka.

The three senior captains led the way again on Saturday, accounting for 32 of their team’s points between them.

Emily Gardner scored a team-high 13 points, while Sisemore finished with 12 and Costa with seven, with the latter also continuing to distribute the ball efficiently.

“Our senior captains were great leaders for us tonight,” Marg Gardner said.

Josie Peterson also had a big game, finishing with nine points, while Marayah Tomlinson added six points.

The Crusaders’ defense got more stingy as the game wore on, holding the visitors to just six points after the break, including just a single point in the fourth.

Gardner scored eight of her tally in the third.

With the win, the Crusaders are now 21-6 and will host No. 4 University (13-13) in Wednesday’s semifinal.

“We’re happy to be qualified for NorCals and looking forward to the challenge on Wednesday,” Mark Gardner said.

Boys

St. Bernard’s 48, Jewish Community 55

The No. 7 Crusaders got off to a slow start and could never fully recover in Saturday night’s loss to No. 2 seed Jewish Community at Kezar Pavilion.

St. Bernard’s made it a one-score game with just over half a minute remaining, but the higher seeds held on to move into Wednesday’s semifinal against Point Arena.

It was an impressive rally for a team that had trailed by as many as 15 points at one stage.

“We dug ourselves a hole in the first quarter and had to battle back from there,” St. Bernard’s head coach Steve Thrap said. “But the boys did an outstanding job. I was very, very proud of them, and we are very proud of the season we had.”

Lane Thrap led the Crusaders with 31 points, closing out what has been an outstanding season for the junior.

Bode Joyner added six points in the loss, while Logan Petrusha finished with five.

The Crusaders closed out 12-13.

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Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.