YUBA CITY — The Lathrop High School Spartans’ historic run in the state playoffs ended Tuesday night with a 61-46 loss at Faith Christian in the CIF Division IV Northern California Regional final.
Faith Christian (32-1) came in as the No. 1 seed and 2025 NorCal Division VI champion led by one of the nation’s leading scorers in senior guard Lauren Harris, a Long Beach State commit.
“We knew that in order to have a chance to win tonight, we would need to slow down their No. 5 (Harris),” Lathrop head coach Dwayne Davis said. “In the end, we slowed her down, but they have a great team around her, and you saw that as the game wore on.”
Harris would score 27 points in the game, but consistent pressure from third-seeded Lathrop (33-2) the entire length of the court made it hard on Faith Christian for parts of the contest.
“Credit to them and their game plan; we got frustrated, at times, and turned the ball over more than we would have liked,” Faith Christian head coach Geoff Harris said. “It was a battle of two good teams with contrasting styles, which is what basketball is all about.”
The Spartans forced seven Faith Christian turnovers in the first quarter that saw Lathrop jump out to an 11-7 lead early thanks in large part to sharp shooting from junior guard Jaleiyah Ray (15 points), who made two of her four 3-pointers in the opening frame.
“We came into the game wanting to force them to shoot the ball from outside, but then they started making shots, so we had to adjust,” Geoff Harris said.
Faith Christian would go on a 9-0 run to close the quarter mostly from the free-throw line, as the Spartans found themselves in foul trouble throughout the entirety of the contest. The end-to-end pressure of Harris and swarming of the ball saw Lathrop get called for 27 fouls in the game to Faith Christian’s eight.
“I was OK with the aggressiveness; you are going to commit fouls when you’re trying to pressure like we were, Davis said. “What I wasn’t pleased about was our inability to make our own free throws when it counted.”
Lauren Harris got going from three in the second quarter. Her two 3s in the frame helped Faith Christian grow the lead to double digits. When Harris was able to beat the Lathrop press, she oftentimes found open teammates near the basket, which was the case in the second helping the Lions take a 31-22 lead into halftime.
Mia Bryan (21 points) Presley Berry (13 points) were the main beneficiaries of Lathrop’s focus on Harris.
“We gave them way too many easy baskets tonight,” Davis said. “That is part of the problem with keying on a great player like that; you give other players a chance to make plays, and they did that tonight.”
Lathrop would show the resolve that helped them drop just one game all season long in the second half. A 3-pointer from Jaylah Seabron followed by back-to-back jumpers from Shakara Porter (eight points) and Belinda Renteria (nine points) quickly cut the Lions’ lead to two points, forcing Geoff Harris to take a timeout.
Just like the first half, foul trouble plagued the Spartans in the third quarter. Faith Christian would score six more points from the line to close the third on a 12-4 run to get the lead back to 10, 43-33 going into the final intermission.
“Each time we made a run they had an answer,” Davis said. “There were some 50-50 calls there in that stretch that didn’t go our way, and of course they knocked down most of the free throws they took.”
Just like in the third quarter a three-point burst from Ray would cut the Faith Christian lead to seven, but Spartans turnovers and pressure fouls put the Lions in the bonus early, helping them grow the lead back to a comfortable margin midway through the fourth quarter.
Lauren Harris’ third and final 3-pointer of the night made it 51-38 with four minutes to go. Faith Christian would ice the game at the line to clinch a second straight Nor Cal Division IV Regional Title 61-46.
“I am just so proud of this group and the mark they have left on this program,” Davis said. “We are extremely grateful for this senior class, and at the same time know we have a good group that will come back and try to do this all again and hopefully go even further.”
The Lions will face Palisades (16-13) in the state championship Saturday morning at Golden 1 Center. Tipoff if set for 10 o’clock. Palisades, the No. 5 seed out of SoCal, defeated No. 2 Godinez Fundamental of Santa Ana 54-38 in the other regional final.
