SACRAMENTO — A Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV finalist a year ago, No. 7 Lathrop gave defending Division III champion Christian Brothers a battle in a second-round contest Thursday night.
The second-seeded Falcons used a 21-point burst in the fourth quarter and soared to a 58-44 victory. They’ll host No. 3 Placer in the Division III semifinals next Tuesday.
Mary Cotton led all scorers with 22 points in her final game for Lathrop (22-7).
“I’m proud of the girls,” Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis said. “We capped off another league championship and made playoffs. We thought we could make more noise than we did but we ran up against a team that did what was necessary in crunch time to get the win.”
His Spartans took a 13-8 lead into the second quarter when Christian Brothers’ length became a factor. During one stretch of four possessions, the Falcons were able to convert on three of them after getting offensive rebounds.
Six-foot guards Chance Sims and Bria Shine each paced Christian Brothers with 15 points, and freshman Donnelli Allen added 14 points.
“We played great defense in the first three quarters, but we let them get the rebound and score second-chance points,” Davis said. “That wore us down.”
Christian Brothers went up 37-29 after three quarters. Lathrop closed the deficit to four at one point down the stretch, but Allen hit two straight 3-pointers to give the Falcons breathing room. The Spartans tried to extend the game with fouls, but the Falcons made five of their last six free throws to secure it.
Khiya Thornton contributed eight points for the Spartans. Ayon Carter and Jasmine Denning added six apiece.

Division IV
Union Mine 60, Ripon 58
EL DORADO — This quarterfinal thriller was decided at the buzzer.
Carley Zaragoza converted the game-winning layup after controlling a long pass. The 6-foot-2 center finished with 18 points, while 6-foot junior Alli McDonald poured in 28.
Ripon’s Reina Sausedo also starred in the back-and-forth affair. With less than a minute to go, she buried a 3-pointer to close No. 5 Ripon (20-8) in by one and was later fouled on another long-range attempt. The standout guard was awarded three free throws, all of which she made to tie it at 58-58.
Sausedo ended with 22 points and eight assists. Mikaylah Vaught supported her with 11 points, while senior center Mia Van Lewen chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and three steals in her final high school contest.
Union Mine (19-7), a Sierra Valley Conference co-champion, started strong and took leads of 22-17 and 33-28 after the first two quarters. The Indians outscored the home team 19-7 in the third and led by as much as eight.
“I was very proud of how we played tonight,” Ripon coach Rick Inderbitzin said. “We battled the whole game with a good basketball team. They had to earn their win tonight. It’s tough to go on the road but the girls gave us everything they had and more.”

Division VI
Ripon Christian 67,
Turlock Christian 30
RIPON — Senior forward Renae Heida played her seventh game since returning from knee surgery, and she put together her best effort of the season with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds.
The No. 4 Knights (18-9) dominated from start to finish and used an 18-3 third quarter to break it wide open. They’ll face top-seeded Forest Lake Christian in Auburn next Tuesday in what will be a rematch of last year’s section final won by Ripon Christian, 52-46.
“It has taken a little bit to get the legs under her,” RC coach Ed Mulder said of Heida. “Every game you can see her getting better and better, which is good because we need her for the playoffs.”
Rilee Clark made three 3s and finished with 15 points. Morgan Van Elderen collected nine points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Paige Vieira paced Turlock Christian (16-9) with 11 points.