Yuba City’s Faith Christian wins NorCal championship. ‘Oh my gosh, this is not happening’
Late last month, the Faith Christian High School girls basketball team relished the opportunity to play inside an NBA arena for a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship.
The Lions from Yuba City entered the cavernous Golden 1 Center, home of the Sacramento Kings, and won the Division VI game by 19 points for their second blue banner in three seasons.
But there was nowhere else the Lions would have rather been on Tuesday night than about 45 miles north of Golden 1 Center, just off the Colusa Highway. Tucked inside a much smaller venue, but still packing all of the hometown charm, the second seed in the D-VI Northern California Regional bracket was right at home in “The Den.”
Faith Christian delivered a 58-53 victory over Cornerstone Christian of Antioch to cap their season in style.
With a high school enrollment of just 50, Faith Christian is easily the smallest school in the greater Sacramento region. It suits up 11 on its girls basketball team, without a single senior. The trio that comprises the key core of the Lions is junior guard Lauren Harris, junior forward Presley Berry and sophomore guard Mia Bryan.
Berry, a tall, versatile forward-guard combo, can finish inside or outside (19.4 points per game entering Tuesday). She can also rebound (8.3 rebounds), facilitate (2.7 assists) and defend (2.7 blocks).
Bryan, a quick and scrappy guard, has often been referred to as Faith Christian’s X-factor. She finds the spots on the floor that no one else occupies and cleans up the offensive misses to a tune of 11.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
But it all starts with Harris, the section’s leading scorer at 29.7 points. She is the daughter of head coach Geoff Harris and the state’s brand new record-holder for 3-pointers made in a career. She broke the previous record of 486 — held by Jessica Grant of Mission Hills High in San Marcos — by dropping 44 points and draining nine triples in Saturday’s 78-59 semifinal win over Weed of the Northern Section. She set the new record in 28 fewer games.
Harris also secured the California single-season record for 3-pointers made during that same game. And inside the familiar confines of “The Den,” the gym where she hoists countless jumpers in practice, Harris and the Lions hoisted their first NorCal championship plaque.
‘We were all in’
“This is my favorite place in the world,” Lauren Harris said. “I’m just so grateful for everyone that’s in this gym right now. This is the best day of my life.”
“The Den” was packed with a standing room-only crowd to watch Harris drain eight more 3’s — giving her 500 for her career — on her way to 33 points to lead the Lions. Faith’s 21st straight win of this season was its biggest in program history.
“We were all in,” Harris said. “Every day, everyone was thinking about practice. Everyone’s thinking about the games. I think everyone dedicated 100% of their life to this team. And our friendship and our bond is what made us win today.”
Harris is so lethal that Cornerstone often tried denying her the ball with double teams before she even crossed halfcourt. But her teammates were ready for the counter attack.
Berry had 15 points and seven blocks. Bryan added four points with three steals. Hannah Hessong and Mandy Fitzgerald filled the remaining holes with deflections, hustle and floor burns. They all celebrated together with each other, their families and a town of Faith Christian supporters.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment since freshman year,” Berry said. “As soon as that buzzer went off, I was just thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this is not happening. This is not real.’ It still doesn’t feel like we won, but I’m glad we’re here.”
Championship game for Woodland Christian
The Woodland Christian Cardinals will have a chance at redemption on Friday at Golden 1 Center.
The Cardinals lost to Bret Hart in the section Division V championship in the NBA arena on Feb. 28. But with a 54-45 win over Encinal of Alameda in a NorCal D-V final, Woodland Christian is in the CIF State finals for the first time in program history.
Teagan Hayes had 19 points to lead the Cardinals, while Siena Sorbello had eight points with 18 rebounds. Elena Ganyo had 11 points, Keziah Maldonado-Lemus had eight points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Bailee Broward had eight points and nine rebounds.
Woodland Christian (30-5) plays Rosamond of Los Angeles County at 10 a.m.
Girls NorCal finals
All state finals are at Golden 1 Center.
Open Division
Mitty 64, Clovis West 60
State final: Mitty vs. Etiwanda, 6 p.m. Saturday.
Division I
Carondelet 56, St. Mary’s 51.
State final: Carondelet vs. Sage Hill, 6 p.m. Friday.
Division II
Caruthers 77, Salesian 63.
State final: Caruthers vs. Rancho Bernardo, 2 p.m. Saturday.
Division III
Marin Catholic 65, Justin-Siena 54.
State final: Marin Catholic vs. Mater Dei Catholic, 4 p.m. Friday.
Division IV
Half Moon Bay 49, Lowell 47.
State final: Half Moon Bay vs. Whitney-Cerritos, 10 a.m. Saturday.
Division V
Woodland Christian 54, Encinal 45.
State final: Woodland Christian vs. Rosamond, 10 a.m. Friday.
Division VI
Faith Christian 58, Cornerstone Christian 53
D-VI tournament ends after NorCals.
Nick Pecoraro is a sports journalist and host of “Premier Preps with Nick Pecoraro,” a weekly prep show available on YouTube that recaps games and teams in the Sacramento area each week. Find it at youtube.com/@PremierPreps.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 11:49 PM.