A 1979 graduate of East Union, where he was a multi-sport standout, Jim Agostini celebrates all the successes of his alma mater.

The school’s longtime girls basketball coach has had a hand in much of it.

Tonight, his six-time reigning Valley Oak League champion Lancers will make their fourth Sac-Joaquin Section playoff semifinal appearance in five years, and they’re sharing the stage with the resurgent East Union boys team in a tantalizing twinbill at Dalben Center.

The girls squad (25-5) is seeded second in the Division III bracket and squares off with undefeated Manteca Unified rival Lathrop (30-0) starting at 5:30. The boys semifinal follows, as the sixth-seeded Lancers (23-7) lock up with No. 7 Beyer (24-6) after both upset higher-ranked teams on the road.

The winners of both games move on to the championship round set for Saturday at Golden 1 Center.

“We feel East Union is a pretty exciting place right now,” Agostini said. “Starting with the campus itself and the new buildings, and you throw in the outstanding football season they just had. The spirit is high. The students are extremely active in participating in events. We’re definitely getting feedback from administration and student leadership. We’re expecting a good crowd tomorrow night. It’s great for girls basketball, and we’re excited to play a game of this magnitude.”

Dutch Ell is an East Coast native who has immersed himself in Lancer culture as a teacher on campus and the fourth-year boys coach. East Union has eclipsed the 20-win mark for the first time in 22 years and is in the semifinal for the first time since 1999.

This comes months after the Lancers’ football team ended an even longer drought by reaching its first SJS final since ’89.

“Not being from the area, I don’t know the East Union history,” Ell said. “So, every time we’ve done something in this run, it’s been the first time since this, or the first time since that. We’re playing some good basketball right now and excited about tomorrow. Hopefully, we can put our stamp on the game early and feed off the energy in the building and provide some of the energy ourselves.”

All four teams featured on Bill Stricker Court tonight should be able to supply that energy since they can all play with pace.

East Union’s girls handled No. 7 Nevada Union’s full-court defense well in a 68-48 quarterfinal rout, but Agostini expects the pressure to be ramped up against third-seeded Lathrop.

“You have to honor the pressure they apply,” Agostini said. “They come at you full court, they come at you half court ad they come at you hard. You have to be able to withstand the pressure defense, and they have players who can make it difficult for you on the offensive end. It’s a big challenge for us.”

Lathrop is led by fourth-year forward Shakara Porter (11 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3,3 steals) and third-year guard Jaleiyah Ray (9.9 points, 2.1 steals). Longtime coach Dwayne Davis has been able to blend his veterans with a talented freshman class starring 6-foot center Breanna Wiseman (12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 1.8 blocks).

East Union is senior loaded on its starting five, with players who were involved in the last meeting with the Spartans — a 64-32 thumping administered by the Lancers in the first round of the D-III playoffs. They’re anchored by the senior triumvirate of Zyondupree Beasley (12.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 1.4 blocks), Ava Barrera (11.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.4 steals, 1.3 blocks) and Shebra Rezaye (11.0 points).

“We respect what they’ve done this year,” Agostini said. “You can talk about strength of schedules, but 30-0 is 30-0. We’ve preparing like we’re going to see Lathrop’s best game, and hopefully our team can do what it does well.”

On the boys side, Beyer has won its five previous meetings with the Lancers going to back to 2008. They last played in 2022 during the Modesto City Classic.

Both teams have been bolstered by key transfers.

Junior guard James McGee moved to Beyer after two varsity seasons as an underclassmen at Central Catholic. He provides the Patriots some added scoring punch from the perimeter, complementing the towering front-line tandem of Curtis Harmon and Keimani Thompson.

“Great basketball team that doesn’t have a ton of weaknesses,” Ell said. “The two bigs are fantastic, they play with a lot of energy and they play fast. They’re very well coached. We play fast, as well, so this can be an up-and-down game. There are a lot of similarities.”

Beyer has won 17 consecutive games after a rough patch in which it dropped four of five. The Patriots crushed No. 2 seed Casa Roble 68-50 last Friday.

East Union is also on a roll, having won six straight since a stunning 55-50 loss at Sierra that ultimately knocked it out of contention of a VOL title share.

Senior guards Jackson Fay and Zydell King and feisty forward Lorenzo Jones lead the Lancers along with transfer additions Ayande and Rico Johnson and Salesi Toki.

“With this team, it took us a little bit to figure out what our identity was,” Ell said. “That was to be expected with so many new faces.

“I think the turnaround came when we played a good, playoff team in Hanford during a Saturday showcase after a Friday night game. We had to get up at 7 a.m. to get down there early, and it wasn’t the prettiest basketball game. We still figured out a way to win that game.

“That was the first time we walked away from a game knowing we played unselfish basketball. We are at our best when the ball is flying around. It just takes a little bit to go find that trust and that sweet spot where we’re playing with each other and off of each other. That turned the tide for us."

There could potentially be Placer-East Union match-ups for both Division III finals, as Placer is the top seed in both brackets. The Hillmen have a doubleheader of their own tonight, as the girls play No. 4 Twelve Bridges, and the boys take on No. 5 Christian Brothers.

The Lancers are looking to follow the school’s football and boys soccer teams to the section finals.

“You can definitely feel like a new leaf is being turned on campus,” Ell said. “I try to integrate myself into the fabric of the school as much as I can, and you can definitely feel a buzz starting with football going on that magical run. The boys soccer team is also doing their thing. It’s pretty special to have a lot of good sports played at East Union right now. These are the new-look Lancers, and it’s not just the buildings.”