The first-ever Sacramento Metro Athletic League tournament title is in the hands of Valley Christian Academy.

In what Lions' coach Mike Parker hopes will become an annual tradition, VCA hosted and won a postseason tournament that brought in the top four teams in the league regular season standings. The one-day event concluded with the Lions poounding Yuba City's Faith Christian 72-40 in the title tilt.

In its first game, Valley Christian started slowly as a number of starters opened the game on the bench for disciplinary reasons. Leading Sacramento Adventist just 26-21 at intermission, the VCA starters erupted with a 20-3 advantage in the third stanza and then rolled to a 52-32 victory.

Josh Bowden scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the way, as Wright Hagerty added 10 points and Kris Kobzeff scored eight and handed out five assists.

The win by Roseville-based VCA brought on the championship matchup with Faith Christian, a winner over Bradshaw Christian earlier in the day.

The Lions trailed 8-2 out of the chute and 15-12 at the end of one quarter, but then they outscored Faith Christian 47-17 in the second and third periods to run away and hide.

"We were really struggling early," Parker said. "We were sleepwalking and throwing the ball away, but we scratched back."

Valley Christian went to the full court press to speed the game up and it worked for them.

"We rarely do that as we don't need it in this league," Parker said. "We drew some things up and went after them. We were able to cause some problems and get some turnovers. That really changed the course of the game and got my guys going."

Bowden scored 25 in the nightcap, and eight of his 11 boards game on the offensive glass. Josh Flanagan scored 13 points, while Hagerty added 10 and Kobzeff 11 points.

The win ends VCA's season at 19-7.