With mix of heavy hearts and pride, Christian Brothers girls win section title
The game started with an 11-second moment of silence and a poignant reminder that there was far more than championship basketball on the hearts and minds of Antelope and Christian Brothers high schools.
Just hours after the Lady Falcons of Sacramento gutted out an overtime victory against Del Oro in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II semifinals on Tuesday night, the Christian Brothers community was rocked by the news of the sudden passing of beloved freshman hooper Jaden DeJesus-Eves.
The 6-foot-8 DeJesus-Eves was described as a “gentle giant” by Christian Brothers girls coach Shandyn Foster, who gathered her finals-bound team for support, prayer and a vow of dedication that the rest of the Lady Falcons’ season would be played for DeJesus-Eves and his family.
“We took a huge loss this week,” Foster said after the game. “We just basically said we’re going to play for him, and that’s what we said. And I said, ‘Win or lose, although I think you guys are going to win, we just play hard.’ And I think he’s going to be proud regardless.”
Foster’s best friend Jermaine Brown is the Christian Brothers boys head coach, and the rest of the Falcons boys team were in attendance in solidarity cheering on their female counterparts. The Lady Falcons, all wearing custom warmup jerseys with DeJesus’ name and No. 11 on the backs, delivered on their promise and captured the Division II championship with a 69-61 win over top-seeded Antelope on Friday at Golden 1 Center.
“It hasn’t been easy these past couple of days,” said junior Olivia Novi. “To be able to come out here tonight and to play a sport that Jaden loved and to honor that and to pull out a win for him, I think that’s what meant more than anything.”
Novi posted 23 points with nine rebounds and five steals, and Joy Omishakin provided 24 points, nine rebounds and four steals as the Falcons earned the program’s sixth section title and third for Foster. Novi and Omishakin were named Capital Valley Conference co-MVPs earlier this month.
Leila Serrano added 13 points to make up for the absence of CVC First-Teamer Journey Williams, who was unavailable due to a minor injury.
“I think going into this season, Leila and I had the same mentality: We wanted this blue banner,” Omishakin said.
The Falcons were in their third championship game in the past four years, having come up shy against Whitney in 2023 and Atwater in 2025. Omishakin and Serrano were on each of the previous teams that fell short in the finals.
“I’m just proud of all of us because I feel like, as a team, we’ve overcome a lot this year,” Serrano said.
Novi’s 3-pointer opened the scoring for Christian Brothers. Antelope made a brief run before the Falcons closed the first quarter tied at 13-all. Omishakin scored 13 of her 24 points in the first half to give the Falcons a 32-21 lead by halftime.
After Antelope cut into the deficit in the third with scoring from freshman Callia Johnson and Paradise Manning, but a bucket by Claire Cuckovich late in the period reclaimed a double-digit lead for Christian Brothers. The Titans brought it to a five-point game with under 20 seconds left in the fourth, but the Falcons held on for a 69-61 victory.
Antelope (25-5) was without its head coach and program founder Sean Chambers, who had a previous commitment as the head coach of the Philippine national team, a post he has maintained for several years after a stellar career as arguably the country’s greatest player.
Assistant coach MJ Masys held down the fort with an 8-0 record in Chambers’ absence with a stellar crop of underclassmen. Johnson, who was named the Metro League Player of the Year, led the Titans with 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Manning, a sophomore, added 13 points with seven rebounds, and senior Izabella Siegler had 12 points on 4-of-5 from 3-point land.
Both teams qualify for the CIF Northern California regional tournament, which begins Tuesday.
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 8:50 PM.