St. Francis Catholic Troubadours (29-5) vs. Brea Olinda Wildcats (28-4)

2016 NorCal Division I Champions

2016 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Runner-up

2016 Delta League Champs

Television: Time Warner Cable (Steve Quis, Casey Jacobsen, Kelli Tennant)

Road to State: St. Francis was the No. 1 seed in the NorCal Regional and posted wins over Lincoln of San Francisco (81-36), Menlo-Atherton (74-51) and Castro Valley (66-52) to reach the championship game. The Troubadours were the No. 2 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, posting wins over Woodcreek (81-39) and Lincoln of Stockton (67-62) to qualify for the NorCals. They defeated Oak Ridge at the Spanos Center in Stockton in the semifinals (88-61) and lost to No. 1 seed St. Mary’s (94-58) in the section finals.

NorCal Division I Recap: St. Francis won the CIF NorCal Division I Championship Saturday with a 66-52 come-from-behind victory over Castro Valley. The Troubadours trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half after Castro Valley went on an 11-0 run to take a 26-11 lead. Senior Tia Hay had 12 of her team-high 17 points in the half but the team made just 7-of-38 from the field and was 1-of-14 beyond the arc. Junior Janae Fairbrook hit three triples in the third quarter with the final one giving St. Francis its first lead at 45-44 to end the quarter. The Troubadours outscored Castro Valley 27-14 in the third quarter overall after scoring just 18 points in the first half and took their first lead at 45-44 entering the fourth.

Head Coach Vic Pitton: Vic Pitton is in his 14th season at St. Francis High School as the varsity basketball coach. He has led teams to eight league and three section titles during his tenure and his Troubadours have earned 289 victories under Coach Vic. The Nor Cal Championship in 2016 is his first in his career.

Players to Know: Lauren Craig (6-2, Senior, 17.1 ppg.,13.7 rpg.) Kyra Huffman (6-0, Senior, 13.0 ppg., 7.2 rpg.), Tia Hay (Senior, 16.2 ppg, 7.2 apg., 5.5 rpg.), Janae Fairbrook (Junior, 11.5 ppg., 4.7 apg.), Julia Razo (Junior, 6.3 ppg., 3.6 rpg.).

State Championship History: St. Francis has won one CIF State Championship in school history in Division III in 1993. Overall, the school has won three state titles including the sports of volleyball and cross country. Nika Bagatelos’s aunt, Melinda, was on the 1993 state championship team.

NorCal Champions: The win over Castrol Valley on March 19 gave St. Francis its second NorCal Championship in school history (1993) and 14th overall for the school.

Delta League Champs: St. Francis won the Delta League Championship with a perfect 14-0 record including two wins over Division II finalist Elk Grove. It is the first league title since 2011 and 13th in school history. Vic Pitton was the named the Delta League Coach of the Year and Lauren Craig was named the Player of the Year. Senior Kyra Huffman and junior Janae Fairbrook joined Craig on the All-Delta League First Team. St. Francis was represented by five players on the second team, including Marlee Nicolos, Jackie Koerwitz, Angie Ortiz, Aliyah Williams and Julia Razo.

Fairbrook for Three: Junior guard Janae Fairbrook has played a vital role in the run to the state championship game. She averaged 17.3 points in the three NorCal regional playoff games, hitting a combined 15 three-pointers.  She scored 17 against Lincoln, 20 versus Menlo-Atherton including a career-high six triples and 14 in the NorCal final with four three-pointers all of which came in the second-half comeback that erased a 12-point halftime deficit.

Double-Double Machine: Senior Lauren Craig has recorded 29 double-doubles on the season in 34 games. She has also eclipsed the 1,000-point and 1,000-rebounds marks for her career with 1,251 points and 1,140 rebounds entering the state final.

Hay to Play at Colorado State: Hay, who is from Melbourne, signed with Colorado State during the early signing period. She was ranked as the No. 14 recruit in the Class of 2016 by NorCalPreps.com and was listed as a three-star recruit by ESPN. Hay has averaged 17 points, 9.5 rebounds and 10 assists over the last two games, nearly posting a triple double in each game – Menlo-Atherton (17 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists) and Castro Valley (17 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists).

Three Dot Data: St. Francis had won 13 straight games entering the Sac-Joaquin Section final loss against St. Mary’s and has won 16 of 17 overall entering the championship game…St. Francis has played three games at Sleep Train Arena this season – a regular season game against Davis, the Sac-Joaquin Section final versus St. Mary’s and the NorCal final versus Castro Valley…Coach Pitton is going for his 290^th of his career today.

Tale of the Tape: St. Francis and Brea Olinda had one common opponent during the 2015-16 season. They both played Fairmont Prep out of Anaheim. Brea Olinda posted a 63-46 win on Dec. 12. Nine days later, Fairmont beat St. Francis 68-42 in the championship game of a bracket at the Phoenix Tournament of Champions. Senior guard Tia Hay did not play in the game for St. Francis.

Thumper Influence: The Troubadour roster includes five freshmen highlighted 6-0 standout Jackie Koerwitz (4.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg), who made the team out of tryouts along with Carlie Deterding. Megan Austin, Nika Bagatelos and Lauren Pank were called up midway into the season after standout performances with the JV unit. The class mascot for the Class of 2019 is Thumper.

Giving Back: St. Francis Alumnae Sole Montemayor ’01 and Maren (Martinelli) Christie ’00 are both assistants on the basketball staff. Montemayor played two seasons at Sacramento City College. After taking a year off, she finished her playing career at Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, West Virginia and earned a degree in nursing. Christie graduated from UC-Berkeley and currently part of the corporate counsel at VSP.

What is a Troubadour? A Troubadour is a French medieval lyric poet composing and singing in Provençal in the 11th to 13th centuries, especially on the theme of courtly love. St. Francis was referred to as God’s Troubadour.

The Zoo: The St. Francis student section is affectionately known as the “The Zoo” because St. Francis is the patron saint of animals.

About St. Francis High School: St. Francis High School is a four-year, all-female college preparatory high school. It is the only Catholic high school in Sacramento affiliated with the Diocese of Sacramento and serves young women hailing from more than sixty private and public feeder schools in the California counties of Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado, and Placer. St. Francis is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA). Established as a school for young women in 1940, St. Francis High School encourages the education of the whole person by providing high academic standards, a Christian environment for spiritual development, a full range of athletics, fine and performing arts, numerous on-campus clubs, and a variety of social activities. Now, with an enrollment of over 1,000 and alumnae numbering over 8,000, St. Francis is celebrating its 75^th Anniversary this academic year.