BRENTWOOD, Calif. – The St. Francis basketball team was eliminated from the CIF Division I NorCal Regional quarterfinals on Saturday with a 63-48 loss to No. 3 Heritage.

‘We ran out of gas and we had some foul trouble that altered the rotations and we just did not make some shots we normally do,” said Pitton. “It was not for lack of effort. We played hard and kept coming back at them but we ran out of gas.”

St. Francis (22-9) trailed 49-47 with 5:13 left in the game on a layup by Jorie Keitges. But after a timeout, the Patriots went on a 14-0 run to close the game. The Troubadours went cold at the line, missing six straight free throws that erased any comeback chances.

Senior Janae Fairbrook and Marlee Nicolos each tallied 10 points to lead the team.

“We showed a lot of poise and the collective will of the team stayed with us,” said Pitton. “We were trying to will ourselves to win even though were not playing our best. We didn’t give in to it.”

St. Francis had three starters in foul trouble during the game. Sophomore Megan Austin contributed nine points and Logan Kelly added a team-best eight rebounds.

“She had to play a lot of minutes and play defense on their best player,” said Pitton of Austin. “She did a great job.”

The game was close in the first half with St. Francis leading by as three points on two occasions and the teams exchanged the lead three times. The Patriots led by just two at the break.”

Pitton told his team to keep their heads high in his postgame meeting.

“We had a great season and were very successful,” said Pitton. ‘Everyone improved, the team improved and we accomplished several things. We won our league to hang a banner, advanced to NorCals and won a playoff game. We would have liked to go further but it was not meant to be. We gave one heck of an effort all season.”

H – DaSilva 17, Sweeney 16, Wegenke 14, Muse 6, Milan 5, Campbell 3, Befikadia 2. SF – Fairbrook 10, Nicolos 10, Austin 9, Bagatelos 5, Kelly 5, Razo 3, Keitges 2, Pank 2, Gage 2.