Late last year, Gary Christensen of Sacramento fielded phone calls from representatives of WNBA teams in Seattle and Phoenix. They wanted to know his secret to becoming the top winner of the "Court of Dreams" contest.

Christensen had co-led two winning efforts in the annual contest, in which community groups nationwide compete to sell the most tickets for Women's National Basketball Association games.

Each winning city received a prize worth up to $25,000 from the WNBA.

"I gave the callers some suggestions – but I don't know whether they actually did what I told them to," Christensen said.

By the time Christensen made those comments Friday, his team of volunteers had won the "Court of Dreams" contest again, defeating ticket sellers from 13 other cities with WNBA squads.

The Sacramentans won by selling more than 5,000 tickets to Monarchs games at Arco Arena, the WNBA announced.

This year's prize will be a $25,000 reading and learning center for St. John's Shelter Program for Women and Children.

The learning center, ex- pected to open later this year at the program's Sacramento County home, will feature several state-of-the-art computers and other learning gadgets.

They will be used after school by boys and girls who stay in the program with their mothers for up to 90 days, said Michele Steeb, the shelter's executive director.

"A big focus of ours is academics," Steeb told The Bee. "We bring in tutors who do one-on-one tutoring with the children.

"The reading and learning center will be in a modular unit that we are in the process of obtaining," she said.

Steeb, who said her program is "the only shelter focused exclusively on homeless women and children" in the county, expressed gratitude to United Way for nominating St. John's for this year's prize.

The winning team – composed mostly of volunteers from Kiwanis and Rotary clubs in Rotary District 5180 – chose St. John's as the beneficiary.

In a prepared statement, WNBA President Donna Orender saluted the winners.

"The WNBA and the Sacramento Monarchs are pleased to be part of a community that comes together to build better opportunities for our youth to learn, play and grow," Orender said. "Congratulations to the Sacramento-area Rotary and Kiwanis clubs and Wells Fargo for all your efforts."

Wells Fargo Bank, among other things, purchased hundreds of the Monarchs tickets for underprivileged children.

"We are so proud to be a part of winning another 'Court of Dreams' for the Sacramento community," Danette Leighton, vice president of Monarchs Business Operations, said in a statement.

Since 2005, the area's ticket-selling drives have been directed by Christensen, a member of the Kiwanis, and Douglas Kraft of Rotary.

In 2005, the pair and their clubs sold 5,748 tickets for the Monarchs home opener that year. But the contest was won by Washington, D.C., volunteers, who sold 5,750 tickets to the Washington Mystics opener.

Kraft and Christensen were devastated. But they became winners when Joe and Gavin Maloof paid $25,000 for an indoor basketball court for the Children's Receiving Home.

In 2006, the local volunteers won a $25,000 basketball court for the YMCA of Greater Sacramento, followed by a $25,000 learning center last year for Oak Ridge Elementary School in Oak Park.

The contest has only one winner yearly. The beneficiary can select one of three prizes: a basketball court, a reading and learning center, or $10,000 cash.

The volunteers buy the WNBA tickets at a discount. By reselling them at higher prices, they raise money for local charities.

Call The Bee's Edgar Sanchez, (916) 321-1088.