Both the St. Bernard’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams were in action at home this week for the North Coast Section semifinals, with the Crusaders girls falling in a thrilling game while the boys team advanced with a 53-42 win.

The Crusaders boys’ team is one of two H-DNL teams who will be playing in an NCS title game, joining the Ferndale girls team who will host the Division 6 title game against Cornerstone Christian on Saturday. St. Bernard’s will host St. Vincent de Paul at the same time on Saturday for the boys Division 6 title game.

St. Bernard’s (21-5) advanced after a nine-point win over Mendocino High School on Wednesday night. After the Crusaders fell behind 9-2 in the game’s first four minutes, St. Bernard’s closed out the first quarter on a 15-0 run to take control of the game. The junior pairing of Liam Dyer and Carson Costa led the way for St. Bernard’s as they combined for 39 points on Wednesday.

St. Bernard’s led 36-19 at halftime and the lead would continue to grow in the second half, with a three by Dyer pushing the Crusader to 24 points up. From there, the Mendocino defense dug in and pitched a shutout in the fourth quarter, not allowing a single Crusader point in the period.

The lack of fourth-quarter scoring didn’t cost the Crusaders as their lead was too much for Mendocino to overcome. The Crusaders advanced to an NCS title game after the 11-point win.

The St. Bernard’s girls lost a nail-biter Tuesday night, falling 47-45 to Dougherty Valley as the Wildcats’ jump-shot first approach proved to be just enough against the defending state champions. The two teams exchanged runs in the second quarter, with St. Bernard opening the period on a 10-0 run before Dougherty Valley closed it on an 8-0 run to go to halftime with St. Bernard’s holding a 23-20 lead.

The game stayed close for the entire second half, with Dougherty Valley taking a 35-33 lead into the fourth quarter. St. Bernard’s was down six with two minutes to play.

Crusaders’ senior Laila Florvilus cut the deficit to four with a fast-break layup. Dougherty Valley turned the ball over and freshman Carli Baum dropped in a layup to make it a two-point game with just over a minute to play in regulation.

St. Bernard’s had a few chances to knot the game even but they couldn’t hit the game-tying shot so they fouled to extend the game. Dougherty Valley didn’t take advantage at the line, giving St. Bernard’s one more shot to tie the game with 12 seconds remaining. After Florvilus was double-teamed, she passed out to sophomore Samantha Sundberg who couldn’t connect on a game-winning three-point try.

Even with the loss, the St. Bernard’s girls’ team (28-2) season isn’t over — they’ll face a fellow H-DNL team on Friday for the third-place game, with the Fortuna Huskies coming to town after their semifinal loss.

Fortuna girls (16-13) fell to Saint Mary’s (Albany) on the road Tuesday 63-36. The Huskies trailed 31-14 at the half and never got it back within single digits. Friday’s game will be the first meeting of the season between the Huskies and the Crusaders.

Ferndale girls (16-9) advanced to their NCS championship game with a low-scoring 33-28 win over St. Vincent de Paul on Wednesday night. Wildcats’ junior Michaela Ellsmore led Ferndale with 13 points, with sophomore Gianna Regli adding seven points.

Regli gave Ferndale the lead late in the fourth quarter, to kick off a 9-4 run by the Wildcats to close out the game.

It was Ferndale’s first game in nearly two weeks due to the Wildcats getting a first-round bye and Victory Christian Academy forfeiting their quarterfinal game but Ferndale was able to handle the layoff and are now one win away from a section title.

Dylan McNeill can be reached at 707-441-0526.