Ava Barrera can always be counted upon to do the dirty work for East Union.

She gets the tough rebounds and guards the opposing team’s best player, regardless of their positions.

The fourth-year senior wanted to do more Tuesday when the second-seeded Lancers hosted No. 15 Los Altos for a first-round battle in the California Interscholastic Federation Northern Regional Championships.

Barrera did not hesitate to let it fly, and she knocked down four 3s on the way to a season-high 24 points, as the East Union held on for the 63-59 win — the first at the NorCal level in program history.

As for the usual stuff, she amassed 20 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

Offensively, it was a big bounce-back effort for Barrera, who scored just nine points total in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinal and final rounds combined last week. Coming off a 58-43 loss to Placer in the section championship, Barrera was extra motivated for this one.

“I just wanted to get right back at it after a big loss,” Barrera said. “I’ve been off the past couple games, but today, it came right back.”

Zyondupree Beasley added 16 points and 12 rebounds. Shebra Rezaye also had 16 points to go with four steals, while filling in at point guard with usual starter Julianna Gaspar undergoing season-ending knee surgery on Tuesday.

“She felt really bad for not being able to play with us, but we know her surgery had to be done,” Rezaye said. “We just really wanted to win it for her, so this game was dedicated to her."

In fact, East Union (27-6) was down two starters by tip-off; senior center Jerney Luckett injured a knee early in the section title game and started on the bench for the NorCal opener. She checked in with 2:23 left in the opening quarter, but the appearance was brief.

The Lancers didn’t appear to have kinks to work out with the new-look starting unit, as they scored to the first 13 points of the game and led 20-5 after Rezaye buried a buzzer-beating jumper. They twice led by as much as 18 points early in the second quarter, before the Eagles (21-6) made their push.

“We’re not happy with the game on Saturday, but even though that was an emotional loss, it was a great experience for the young ladies,” EU coach Jim Agostini said. “To be able to show some resiliency tonight and come out with the energy that they did, that’s as good as it gets for us.”

Los Altos never led but was able to shrink that double-digit deficit to two, 47-45, after freshman point guard Taylor Ware hit a 3 with 5:58 remaining.

East Union responded with an 8-2 run, and Barrera and Rezaye combined to make 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:30 to seal it.

“I was confident that we were going to pick it back up,” Rezaye said. “We just let it slip a little bit. We got too comfortable, and we just have to get out of that mindset and really execute.”

With Gaspar and Luckett out, three sophomores stepped up and had key moments in this milestone victory.

Kymoni Beasley, starting in place of Luckett, sparked East Union with her energy, especially in the second half. She finished with two points, six rebounds, two steals and a block.

Center Lilyan Frye pitched in with two points and three offensive rebounds. She played on the JV team all season and made her varsity debut in the SJS quarterfinals.

Lucija Dayeh played a pivotal part in the clutch 8-2 flurry in the fourth quarter. She made the extra pass to Barrera for a big 3-pointer, then she made one of her own to cap the run on East Union’s next possession.

“We had three sophomores who gave us some big minutes, and I have two more who are champing at the bit,” Agostini said. “This was just a gutsy effort tonight.”

East Union has another tough match-up ahead with SJS Division IV champion West Campus (22-3) visiting from Sacramento on Thursday. The seventh-seeded Warriors handled No. 10 Half Moon Bay 54-41 in their NorCal opener.