East Union has quietly overcome a little adversity to get to this point and still managed to slay some giants along the way.

The Lancers (26-5) encounter another Saturday when they make their first Sac-Joaquin Section championship-round appearance since 1994 and second all-time.

Top-seeded Placer (29-2) will meet them at Golden 1 Center in the Division III final starting at 2 p.m. For the Hillgals, it will be their first section final since going back-to-back in 1989 and 1990, the latter of which was followed by a Division III state championship run ending with an upset of undefeated Brea Olinda.

East Union is hoping to have its own version of a Cinderella story.

Although they’re the No. 2 seed, the Lancers have felt unnoticed on the way to the royal ball, while others in the region have gotten their due.

“You know, they had a chip on their shoulder,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said after his team’s semifinal win over Manteca Unified rival Lathrop on Tuesday.

“They saw all the publications with these great stories, and these teams are even getting on the news. I have girls in the team room coming to me going, ‘Coach, when are we going to get on the news?’ I said, ‘You know what, ladies? Just keep winning. You’ll get there.’”

By his own admission, Agostini wasn’t always so sure they would.

His senior leaders had no doubt.

On Tuesday, the Lancers raced past previously unbeaten-Lathrop (30-1) with a dominant second half, 47-37. They’re now responsible for two “and-1” records held by teams that have advanced this deep into the postseason.

Valley Oak League foe Central Catholic was 17-0 before losing in overtime at East Union, 62-58. The Raiders have not lost since, avenging the defeat to share the title with the now six-time defending league champion Lancers while rolling to the SJS Division IV final.

After East Union coasted past Nevada Union in the quarterfinals, fourth-year varsity player Shebra Rezaye was well aware of what was to come. She noted that the Lancers had already taken down an undefeated team, while implying that they’ll do it again.

She and the Lancers got their validation in the Lathrop win in which she scored a game-high 21 points.

“It feels amazing, honestly,” Rezaye said after the semifinal. “We knew we could do it, and we just came out and played our hardest. We knew what had to be done.”

They knew early in the season, even if there was some uncertainty from Agostini.

For the second straight year, his program was dealt a major blow by an outgoing transfer. Haven Stone shined as a freshman for the Lancers before moving out of the area. She now stars for Justin-Siena of Napa, which is vying for the North Coast Section Division II title on Saturday.

Two years ago, then-sophomore Nylah Dyson was named All-VOL MVP. She broke a single-game record with 45 points in what ended up being her final appearance for East Union, which was upset by 11th-seeded Will C. Wood in the second round. Dyson moved on to San Francisco power Archbishop Riordan, which plays for the Central Coast Section Open Division championship tonight.

“A program that takes hits like that usually doesn’t do this (make a section final),” Agostini said.

The hits kept coming.

With both Dyson and Stone out of the picture, third-year junior Julianna Gaspar was left as the primary ball handler and creator. Agostini was more than comfortable with this, until she came out of the flag football season — she plays quarterback in the fall — with a knee injury that still bothers her today.

Gaspar has played through the pain and remained a productive member on a starting unit that features four seniors.

The Lancers had to cope with other ailments to key players early in the season. One was even overseas for a family vacation over winter break.

“I wasn’t quite sure what this team was going to be at the beginning of the year,” Agostini said. “We battled injuries, and one is playing on a knee that’s going to need surgery. The girls came to me and said, ‘Coach, I don’t want this surgery yet, I don’t want to stop playing here,’ or, ‘Hey, I’ve been here four years, and we want to take this thing all the way.’

“It’s hard to say that, and as a coach, you go, ‘Wow, these girls got almost bigger dreams than I do.’”

The dream doesn’t end Saturday regardless of the outcome, as East Union has already locked up its fourth NorCal ticket in five years.

First, the Lancers face a formidable foe in Placer, ranked ninth overall in the Sac-Joaquin Section, according to MaxPreps ratings. East Union is No. 14.

The Foothill Valley League champion Hillgals blew out Florin and Rio Linda on the way to the semifinals, where they broke away from a halftime tie against fellow FVL member Twelve Bridges and won, 52-39.

While East Union is led by a triumvirate of seniors — Ava Barrera, Zyondupree Beasley and Rezaye — Placer counters with a talented all-junior trio. Point guard Brookelyn Dunkle, the reigning FVL MVP, spearheads the Hillgals and is flanked by Ginger Biddle and 5-foot-10 forward Lana Terrell, who each scored 16 points in their semifinal victory.

“It’s just great to be able to take this team to Sacramento,” said Agostini, who is in his 19th year as head coach at his alma mater. “We’ve been knocking on the door — many, many times. It’s just good to finally slam it open.”