OAKLAND  - Justin-Siena High School created all kinds of good news Saturday at Oracle Arena.

The No. 1 seeded Braves built a sizable 18-point lead with 5:18 to go, but then withstood a furious fourth-quarter run by defending champion St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Vallejo to win Saturday’s CIF North Coast Section Division IV girls basketball championship game, 60-52.

It was Justin-Siena’s first North Coast Section title and the Braves’ first section crown since 1997, when as a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section school it beat Colfax, 50-49.

The win was important for another reason: A selection committee today is expected to award the Braves (27-3 overall) a high seed, keeping them at home for the opening round of the CIF Northern California Regional Championships, which start on Tuesday.

“I thought we were strong, I thought we played extremely well,” said coach Mike Boles. “I thought we persevered and we showed a lot of fortitude. While this game has a lot of meaning at the end of it and has a title to it, we try to stress attacking each day as the biggest day of our life. That’s been our process the entire time.

“Everybody comes to practice on that first day and the goals are all the same — to win a section championship. I see these kids work every single day and I know what they put into it. I know how hard they’ve worked. You’ve got to give credit to the kids. I’ll take these 13 kids anytime.

“It means a lot to the program and it means a lot to these individuals here. And it means a lot to the alumni who played at Justin-Siena. I can’t be remiss without mentioning all the players that established the foundation.”

Vicky Deely was held to just one point in the first quarter and five in the first half, but came back to finish with a game-high 23 points with seven rebounds and 9-of-11 free-throw shooting. One of her biggest baskets was actually a 3-point play, when she put the ball on the floor and hit a shot from inside with 41.4 seconds to go. Her ensuing free throw made it an eight-point game.

“Throughout the game they definitely took those lanes away, so it wasn’t really a game where I could drive to the basket,” said Deely, the Braves’ top scorer and rebounder, who is headed to UC Davis next fall on a scholarship. “When they really looked to face-guard us and trap along the perimeter, it opened up the lanes and I saw it and I took the opportunity and made the shot. I was happy, because I felt like I was a little off on my shots earlier. For me, that was a really big shot to make at that time of the game.”

The win was Justin-Siena’s second of the year over St. Pat’s (26-5), the No. 3 seed that was ahead early in the game at 3-0, 6-3, 8-3 and 14-10. Justin-Siena beat St. Pat’s 70-59 at the Martin Luther King Classic in Kentfield in January.

As the NCS runner-up, the Bruins also advance to NorCals, but are expected to start out on the road.

“Justin’s a great team,” said Rodney Faucett, St. Pat’s coach. “When they hear that they’re going to play St. Pat’s, Justin gears up at least two steps.”

The two schools were longtime rivals in the old Superior California Athletic League, which was part of the Sac-Joaquin Section. Justin-Siena is the co-champion of the Marin County Athletic League and St. Pat’s won the Bay Shore Athletic League. St. Pat’s had its 11-game winning streak snapped.

Jessica Futo had 12 points and five rebounds, Courtney Pardini had 11 points and three rebounds, Britney Hyatt had seven points, four rebounds and seven assists, Kyleigh McAhen had four points, two rebounds and two steals, and Rachelle Whitehead gave Justin-Siena a huge lift from the bench, with three points and six rebounds.

The Braves outscored the Bruins 21-8 in the third quarter and used a 15-4 run late to take a 48-35 lead going into the fourth period. The Braves started the final quarter on a 4-0 run and were in front 54-36.

The Braves — ranked No. 4 in the state Division IV poll and No. 14 in the Northern California Overall Top 15 by CalHiSports.com — ran out the clock, then celebrated near their bench. They were awarded a team plaque, pennant and individual medals.

“I think our whole team played really, really well,” said Hyatt, the team’s point guard. “We had a lot of help off the bench. We got in foul trouble, so we needed those key players to come in and get rebounds and make a few shots.

“It’s really an amazing experience, just this whole thing. For Vicky and I, this has been our goal since freshman year. To be here at Oracle Arena, wearing these ribbons and medals around our neck, it’s pretty special.”

Special indeed, considering how strong and deep of a bracket Division IV has historically been over the years. Past champions include not only St. Pat’s, but Piedmont, Ursuline-Santa Rosa, Marin Catholic-Kentfeld and Campolindo-Moraga.

Now Justin-Siena is a part of that “Who’s Who” list of title holders.

“We all played so hard,” said Futo. “We all knew St. Pat’s was going to be hard to beat twice. We’ve earned it and we feel very accomplished. We’ve worked so hard to get here. There was a lot of pressure to win because we really wanted those home games. But we tried to take it as just another game the way we’ve been playing all year — what we’ve been doing has been working.”

No shooting foul was called when Futo, the Braves’ second-leading scorer, fell hard to the floor after driving and putting up a shot in the fourth quarter. She was in obvious pain and slow to get up, and when she did the emotion and tears in her eyes told the story of such a physical and intense battle.

“I think it was more shock than anything,” she said. “And then I realized I was OK and just got back up and continued to play, once I got past the shock of it. I realized this was a big game and I wasn’t about to just come out because of that. I made myself get back up and continue playing. I was a little upset that they didn’t make the call. I just have to let that go and just keep on playing. There’s nothing I can do about it. There’s nothing I can do if I complain — that gets us nowhere.”

Alex Cowling led St. Pat’s with 20 points. She was followed by Jameiz Terrell (10), Taylor Rojas (8), Olivia Reed (8) and Rechel Carter (6).

The Bruins didn’t go away, outscoring Justin-Siena 14-6 in the final 5:03 and cutting Justin-Siena’s lead to just five points, 57-52, on a 3-pointer by Olivia Reed with 1:13 left. Their press rattled the Braves at times.

“I had complete confidence in our team that we were going to be able to survive that,” said Boles. “We had talked about they’re a defending champion, they’re going to make a run at us, and how we withstood that run was going to be the difference. I thought the character of our kids showed throughout that time. St. Pat’s is a great team, they’re extremely well-coached.”

Deely said it’s been her goal since her freshman year to win NCS.

“We earned this game and we earned these medals. It’s a great feeling because we knew that St. Pat’s was going to go into that game looking for revenge, because we beat them before.”