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The St. Mary’s boys’ basketball team won the school’s first CIF Northern Region championship Saturday night, beating Monte Vista Christian (Watsonville) 79-63 at Delta College in Stockton. 

The Panthers were led by guard John Sharper’s 26 points. Sharper has been dominant in the regional playoffs, averaging 25 points per game. 

Sharper got help from forward Chase Moore, who had 18 points and eight rebounds. 

St. Mary’s used their trademark pressure defense to put together two 10-3 runs early in the fourth quarter to ice their victory. 

St. Mary’s will face Crossroads (Santa Monica) next Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at Arco Arena in Sacramento. 

Sharper scored 11 points in the first quarter to help the Panthers to a 20-16 lead. St. Mary’s couldn’t quite break it open in the second quarter, and held a 37-30 lead at halftime. But Moore’s 12 second-half points helped the Panthers pull away.