SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis earned a No. 1 seed in the Nor Cal Regional bracket of the CIF State Championships and home court as announced by the selection committee Sunday afternoon.

“It shows we are a quality team and the girls have really performed well this year,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “The fact that we get home court and, hopefully can keep it, is a great advantage. We enjoy playing in front of our crowd.”

St. Francis, which posted a 10-1 record at home this season,  enters the tournament with a 26-5 overall record. They advanced to the finals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Championships before falling to top seed and national seed St. Mary’s of Stockton on Saturday.  The Troubadours won the Delta League title with a 14-0 record.

“We need to play the game the way we have played it and stay in the moment,” said Pitton. “We have to play our style of basketball and not worry about the type of game. As long as we do that, we will be just fine.”

St. Francis will have a bye in the first round and play the winner of the matchup between No. 9 Oakland (11-12) and No. 8 Lincoln of San Francisco (25-6) on Saturday, March 12 at St. Francis at 5 p.m. The Regional Semifinals will be held at school sites on Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. and the Regional finals on Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m. at Sleep Train Arena.

“My team is amazing and all the players are awesome,” said freshman Jackie Koerwitz, who scored a career-high 14 points in the Sac-Joaquin Section finals. “We are excited to get started.”

Castro Valley (31-2) is the No. 2 seed, while Oak Ridge is No. 3 (27-2) and Menlo-Atherton (25-4) is No. 4.

St. Francis is led by senior Lauren Craig, who has averaged 17.3 points and 13.8 rebounds this season. She has recorded 27 double-doubles this season.

“I am so excited for the Nor Cals,” said Craig. “It is my senior year and I want to go as far as possible.”

Tickets for the regional second and semifinal rounds are $9.00 for General Admission. $5.00 for High School Students (w/ID), Seniors (65+) and children under 12. Children under 3 are free.