Amelia Wickersham of Healdsburg retains possession of the basketball away from Reilly Fay of Credo, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at Healdsburg High School. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Reilly Fay of Credo and Sana Katsuki of Healdsburg go to the floor of a loose ball, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at Healdsburg High School. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Maya Sherman of Healdsburg drives the lane against Credo, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at Healdsburg High School. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Reilly Fay of Credo drives to the hoop past Claire Berry of Healdsburg, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at Healdsburg High School. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Reilly Fay of Credo is fouled by Healdsburg power forward Claire Berry, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at Healdsburg High School. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
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Amelia Wickersham of Healdsburg retains possession of the basketball away from Reilly Fay of Credo, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at Healdsburg High School. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Healdsburg High School’s girls basketball team is headed to its first North Coast Section semifinal contest since 2003 after Friday night’s 35-28 home victory against Credo.
The win gives the Greyhounds their third playoff victory in the last 15 years.
Healdsburg was the fourth seed in the 2003 NCS playoffs when a 57-50 semifinal loss to No. 1 Ursuline ended the Greyhounds’ season.
This time around, Healdsburg — ranked No. 4 again, in Division 5 — will host No. 9 Gateway High School from San Francisco in Tuesday’s semifinal game.
Healdsburg head coach Cassidy Jourdan called her team’s composure during Friday night’s victory impressive.
“We have a pretty young team of girls that haven’t had that many varsity games under their belt coming into the season,” Jourdan said. “They look like leaders out there now — it’s good to see.”
Friday’s quarterfinal matchup against the Gryphons did not start off great for Healdsburg, which fell behind 10-7 after the first quarter.
“The energy of playoff basketball is really fun and you can get carried away in that,” Jourdan said.
The Greyhounds were able to climb back to take a one-point lead into halftime, up 16-15.
“Everybody doesn’t need to do anything spectacular or amazing out there. If everybody does their one job and does it well, we will be successful,” Jourdan said. “I think we really stepped to that and got our shoes back on the ground, our head back in the game to the second half.”
By the end of the third quarter, Healdsburg led 24-20.
“Our bigs played really good in the paint today,” Jourdan said. “Everybody getting in there, getting big rebounds, trying to limit 24’s game was a key going into this, and it’s great to see that plan go into action.”
Credo’s No. 24 is senior Reilly Fay, who finished with nine points, four steals and five rebounds.
“We start revving a little late into games,” Jourdan said. “I would love to see us come out hotter with a little more fire from the first half.”
Amber Dhiman led the Greyhounds with 11 points, including three three-pointers.
Healdsburg senior Amelia Wickersham, who had five points and four steals, said the Greyhounds had to adjust their game plan once the contest started.
“We had a game plan based on their defense and then they came out not playing that defense, so we had to improvise,” Wickersham said. “We just played hard and it worked out.”
Greyhounds senior Meher Dhiman called the current playoff run the most memorable moment of her basketball career at Healdsburg.
“I think our team chemistry is really good and to have that keep going throughout the season has been really special,” Dhiman said. “We’re excited to see where it takes us.”
Credo head coach Paul Lambrecht was proud of his team despite the loss.
“I loved how we came out early and let them know we were here for real,” Lambrecht said of Credo’s first quarter. “Our intent and focus early set the tone that this was going to be four quarters of good basketball.”
The Greyhounds’ semifinal matchup with Gateway is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Healdsburg High School.