SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Head Coach Vic Pitton pointed to each player individually at the end of practice on Wednesday. “I believe in you”. “I believe in you”.  “I believe in you”. He went around the circle of Troubadours and they ended their final practice.

“We want to stay grounded and stay in the moment,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “We are trying to maintain our concentration right now and develop our focus tomorrow. We try to keep our perspective that we have one more obstacle in our way to our goal at the beginning of the year. It is a big obstacle but a movable obstacle. It will take our collective effort to move that obstacle out of our way.”

On Thursday, the Troubadours play Brea Olinda (28-4) for the CIF Division I State Championship game at 6 p.m. at Sleep Train Arena. St. Francis will host a “Spirit Tailgate” in the arena parking lot starting at 4:30 p.m.

Midway through the season, Pitton, the 2016 Delta League Coach of the Year, started a team mantra – Faith over Fear – that has pushed the team to pinnacle of the high school basketball playoffs.

“We have to have faith in ourselves and faith in each other,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “We have to have faith that all the effort we put into it is going to pay dividends for us in the end.”

The players have bought in and made a historic postseason push to the brink of a state championship.

“It means to have the confidence in your team that you can do something,” said senior Kyra Huffman. “We need to come together as a team. Join each of our faiths together and that is how we can accomplish it. We are really stoked to play tomorrow.”

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area will show the St. Francis – Brea Olinda CIF Division I State Championship game live from Sleep Train Arena on Thursday at 6 p.m. The game will also be live streamed on the Time Warner Cable website at twccommunity.com. The game will be available on demand later in the week.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $10 for children and students.