By Matt Long

Telegraph Sports Editor

The Lady Trojans are moving forward in their effort to claim the state title.

After losing to Carondelet in the Northern California finals a year ago, Oak Ridge varsity girls’ basketball coach Steve White said “we’ll be back.”

White’s prediction turned out to be true, as the Lady Trojans will face top-seeded Berkeley at 6 p.m. Saturday at Arco Arena for the opportunity to play for the Division I state championship the following Saturday in Bakersfield.

Oak Ridge, seeded second in the Northern California playoffs, reached the championship game with a thrilling 65-63 win over third-seed Deer Valley on Saturday night.

Before a standing-room-only crowd in the Oak Ridge gym, Sara James made the game-winning shot with 4.2 seconds to play, working her teammates and the hometown crowd into a frenzy.

James, however, would not have had an opportunity to hit the shot if teammate Caitlin Welsch hadn’t made a crucial split-second decision just moments earlier.

James went the free throw line with 10 seconds remaining, but missed both shots. As Deer Valley’s Nyaa Davis secured the rebound, Welsch grabbed for the ball and earned a jump ball call and the possession arrow, fortunately for Oak Ridge, pointed in its direction and the Lady Trojans, not Deer Valley, had the first opportunity to win the game.

Deer Valley had one last attempt to tie the game but Raven Fox’s shot was off the mark and Oak Ridge held on to the win.

“It’s special to get there,” White said of the Northern California title game, “but we’ve had a goal in mind all year and it’s the state championship. We’ve put ourselves in a position to get there but we’re not done yet.”