PREP ROUNDUP: Faith boys headed to section title game

Deep Bhatti came up big down the stretch with a couple of key steals and the Faith Christian High boys basketball team held off Turlock Christian 65-60 at C.A. Summy Gymnasium on Friday night to earn a ticket to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship game.

This is the Lions' first trip to the section championship game since 1998.

"They were 6-foot-6, 6-foot-5 ... They were a lot bigger than us, but our guys figured out a way to win," said Faith coach Rick Daugherty. "Deep held them off down there and had those two steals. It got pretty exciting."

While Bhatti grinded things out in the paint, Micah Atkins led the way.

Atkins finished with 28 points, four steals and found a knack for getting to the free-throw line, where he went 13 for 21.

Jordan Sullivan had 17 points, while Bhatti finished with eight points, eight rebounds and four steals. Drew LeBlanc also contributed down low with eight rebounds.

With the victory, No. 1 Faith (24-5) will face No. 3 Stockton Christian for the section title on Thursday at Galt High School.

Central Valley 49, Wheatland 46

In Shasta Lake — Josh Crawley had an open look from beyond the arc in the closing seconds, but the ball rimmed out and the Pirates fell to Central Valley in a Northern Section Division IV quarterfinal game.

Taylor Balogi finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Jordan Samson had nine points and 12 rebounds for Wheatland (16-11).

Crawley and Jackson Hopking each recorded eight points.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Maxwell 47, Redding Adventist 45, OT

In Maxwell — Ashley Acevedo nailed two free throws with 15 seconds left to help lift the Panthers over Redding Adventist in a Northern Section Division VI playoff game.

She finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals. Jessie Otterson had 10 points, seven rebounds and seven steals, while Jenna Powell put up 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Maxwell (16-5) will face No. 4 Butte Valley on Wednesday in Maxwell.

BASEBALL

River Valley 7, Marysville 0

In Yuba City — The Falcons jumped on the Indians early with six runs in the first inning and never looked back in a nonleague win to open the 2013 season.

Jacob Clayton, Stuart Bradley and Rickey Ramirez each pitched 21⁄3 innings and combined for 17 strikeouts. The staff allowed just one Marysville hit.

T.J. Dove went 3 for 4 with a double, Bradley and Cris Lamas each finished 2 for 4 with a double and Hector Sanchez also went 2 for 4 for the Falcons.

Cody DePalma managed the only hit for the Indians, who also got a solid outing from Hayden Page, who pitched three innings of relief.

GIRLS SOCCER

Marysville splits at Woodland tourney

In Woodland — Annie Wooten scored a pair of goals in the Indians' season opener to top Amador 3-2 at the Woodland Cal Spring Classic, before falling to Modesto 5-1 in the nightcap.

Marimar Terriquez added the third goal, while Taylor Anderson and Alondra Lomeli provided the assists in the win for the Indians (1-1). Makaylan Ferris recorded 12 saves as keeper.

Amber Eason punched in Marysville's only goal in the loss.

TENNIS

River Valley 8, Marysville 1

In Yuba City — The Falcons began their 2013 campaign with a nonleague rout of the Indians.

Jacob Farmer (6-0, 6-0), Chris Oliver (6-1, 6-1), Josh Fujii (6-4, 6-2), Rahman Jadusm (6-0, 6-2) and Ismael Ramirez (6-0, 6-3) won in singles.

Marco Tica and Renz Chua teamed up to win 6-1, 6-2 in doubles, while Martin Flores and Cole Huth (6-0, 6-4) and Ivan Cortez and Jas Hansi (6-0, 6-0) followed suit.

JV BASEBALL

River Valley 12, Marysville 1

In Yuba City — Dace Asher and Steve Robinson combined for 14 strikeouts and received plenty of run support in the process.

Jordan Greminger and Jordan Dears each went 2 for 4 with a triple, while Tino Caracciola finished 2 for 2 with three RBIs. Robinson also had three RBIs and Greminger drove in a run as well for the Falcons.