SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis varsity basketball team hit 12 three-pointers to defeat Davis for the third time on the season and remain tied for the first in the Delta League with a 76-67 road win Monday night.

“One of the oldest axioms is it is hard to beat a good team three times,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “Coming into their house we knew we are going to have our best performance. We played a fantastic first half. Davis gave everything they had and they never gave up as they fought down to the wire.”

The game remained in doubt until the final minute as the Blue Devils pulled within five points. But a steal by Janae Fairbrook led to a Jackie Koerwitz layup to seal the game.

“It is great to keep the momentum going from Holy Hoops,” said junior forward Logan Kelly, who added nine points and six rebounds. “We are playing as a team. We are getting in the flow and it is all coming together.”

The Troubabours built a double-digit advantage in the first half on the strength of seven three-pointers and used key triples in the second to keep the lead in check over a feisty Blue Devil team that had four players in double figures.

“Our three-point shooting early in the game allowed us to get separation,” said Pitton. “Then coming down the stretch we made just enough plays to hang on and pull away for a win.”

Sophomore Nika Bagatelos (nine points) joined Fairbrook (12) and senior Julia Razo in making a team-best three three-pointers each in the contest. Razo finished with a team-best 20 points to record her fourth 20-point game of the season.

“We have been shooting extremely well,” said Pitton. “They have been able to answer. It is quite remarkable. I have had a lot of good teams but this one can answer a rally by the other team as well as any I have coached.”

St. Francis (15-7) won its eighth consecutive overall and improved to 8-1 in league play.

 “We are really happy,” said Nika Bagatelos. “We have beat them twice but we had to get ahead in the game and keep our focus.”

The Troubies will host Elk Grove on Wednesday with first-place on the line. The Thundering Herd defeated Grant 52-24 on Monday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. and the game will be shown online on TroubieTV.

“We have to play like we did tonight,” said Bagatelos. “We need to start with our defense and our offense will come.”

SF – Razo 20, Fairbrook 12, Koerwitz 11, Nicolos 9, Bagatelos 9, Kelly 8, Keitges 4, Pank 3. D – Oliva 21, Agnew 15, Lengtat 13, Forrester 12, Malone 6.