File photo – The Eureka girls lost to top seed Salesian in the NCS playoffs on Wednesday night.

Top-seeded Salesian proved too hot to handle for the Eureka girls in North Coast Section Division-III basketball action on Wednesday night, pulling away in the second half for a comfortable 61-35 win at Albany High.

“We played well, their press was just relentless,” Eureka head coach Michael Harvey said. “It felt like a whole game in the first half. But the girls played hard.”

The No. 4 seed Loggers matched the high-flying Salesian girls early in the game, trailing by just two points after the opening quarter.

The relentless Pride, however, gradually pulled away, stretching the lead to eight by halftime and then outscoring the Loggers 15-4 in the third quarter to end the game as a contest.

“They are a great team,” Harvey said of Salesian, the top-ranked D-III team in the state.

With the win, the Pride improved to 22-8 and will play for the NCS championship this weekend, while the Loggers dropped to 21-10 and will now regroup for next week’s NorCal tournament.

Makaila Napoleon scored a team-high 10 points in Wednesday’s loss, while Dorshaela Wesson finished with eight points.

Nine different Loggers accounted for the team’s tally.

“I’m proud of the girls,” Harvey said. “I’m proud of the effort.”

The Loggers will find out their NorCal opponents on Sunday.

###

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