CIF section D-VI finals: Forest Lake Christian girls, Victory Christian boys win
Tucked away in Lake of the Pines near Auburn, Forest Lake Christian doesn’t always get a ton of attention when it comes to athletics.
Even with four CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championships hanging in the gym, a three-peat from 2003-05 and the latest from 2020, the Falcons seem to fly under the radar as a small Division VI school.
“We want to be on there,” said senior Jessica Makovey of hanging a new banner in the Forest Lake gym. “This year, all of us worked together, and our names are on there because we deserve it, not because it was handed to us.”
Forest Lake Christian stands out as one of just 16 schools in the section to have at least five section championships after Friday morning’s 51-41 win over top-seeded Sacramento Adventist in the D-VI final at Golden 1 Center.
“It’s awesome that we can kind of just come out of nowhere and take bigger schools down, even though we’re so small, but we’ve worked so hard,” said senior Jordan Bell. “We all love God so much, and we all love Him together. And so that’s what brings us together and makes us stand out from other schools.”
The Falcons (18-8) secured a wire-to-wire victory over the Capitals of Carmichael with several contributors. Seniors Abbie Stokes and Bree Wilson each had 10 points while three players grabbed double-figure rebounds, including senior Jessica Makovey (16), junior Kenzie Harrington (10) and Stokes (10).
“You know, we have a saying that we started this year called TNT, toughness, not talent,” Forest Lake Christian coach Collin Widing said. “Everyone has individual talents, but it comes down to being tough.”
Kyla Friedrich led Sac Adventist (19-11) with 22 points after playing with four fouls the entire second half. Senior star guard Gwen Rosich tallied 10 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and five steals in defeat.
Both programs qualify for the CIF Division VI NorCal tournament, which begins next week.
Division VI boys
Victory Christian 66, Sacramento Adventist 63
Luke Smith scored 22 points, including four free throws in the closing seconds, and the Vikings beat the Capitals in overtime in a battle of Carmichael-based schools located 2 miles from each other for the program’s fifth small-school championship in eight appearances.
Daniel Kapelkin, the lone senior on the roster, muscled inside for 17 points and 14 rebounds, Ben Milward had 10 points and five rebounds, and the Vikings moved to 11-1 this season away from home.
Marc Smith has coached the core Victory Christian group since they were in the seventh grade, and he’s grown as a coach as they have as a team. Still, Smith wasn’t sure his team would wind up at Golden 1 unless they became more sound on defense. They did. He applauded the spirited community that has traveled all seasons to see this team flourish.
“This championship means so much to our school and community,” the coach said. “We’re big on sportsmanship. If we don’t’ win the right way, then what’s the point?”
Elijah Denis scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds for Sacramento Adventist. Caleb Serna, Jason Henda and Ethan Piersanti combined to score 29 points for the Capitals (23-8), who also advance to the CIF NorCal D-VI rounds.