Basketball Game Preview: McKinleyville Panthers vs. St. Bernard's Crusaders

The McKinleyville Panthers will take on the St. Bernard's Crusaders at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

McKinleyville is headed into Saturday's contest hungry for a win as their strong season has now been derailed by two straight defeats. They were four points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 42-38 heartbreaker at the hands of Eureka.

Meanwhile, St. Bernard's waltzed into their game on Thursday with ten straight wins... but they left with 11. They claimed a resounding 68-28 victory over the Warriors. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 41-13.

McKinleyville better focus on containing Laila Florvilus and Samantha Sundberg as the pair were huge in St. Bernard's win. Florvilus almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine boards, while Sundberg went 5 of 11 on her way to 16 points. Florvilus is also crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Alyssa Boham was another key player, putting up ten points and six rebounds.

St. Bernard's smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 21 consecutive contests.

St. Bernard's pushed their record up to 20-1 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. As for McKinleyville, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 15-7.

McKinleyville skirted past St. Bernard's 52-50 in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for McKinleyville since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.