Poly wins City Section Division I girls’ basketball title in double overtime

By Merry On Feb 25, 2023

Alyssa Jaime stole the ball, was fouled and made the second of two free throws to give Sun Valley Poly a three-point lead with 7.1 seconds left in overtime and the fourth-seeded Parrots held on to Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies 67. 64 in the City Section Division I Girls’ Basketball Final Saturday afternoon at Pasadena City College. It was Jaime’s lone point of the game, but perhaps the most crucial of all for her team.

LACES had a chance to force double overtime with a three-pointer, but failed to get a shot in time.

Poly (23-5) captured his first city championship after finishing 12-0 in the East Valley League, beating No. 5 Garfield 55-31 in the quarterfinals and then upset Hamilton 56-47 in the semi-finals.

Jaime might have won the game for the Parrots, but junior guard Hannah Lising kept them in, scoring 35 points before fouling an offense with 1:34 left in regulation and Poly clinging to a 58-57 lead .

Senior guard Sofia Cruz scored 11 points, sophomore forward Jhada Cordon had 10 and freshman guard Audrey Flores added eight for Poly.

Senior guard Maya Sano scored 15 points, junior guard Katie Chiba added 13, and senior forward Moka Tsukino had 12 for the third-seeded Unicorns (17-14), who were seeking their seventh section crown and second in Division I.

Poly made his third appearance in a title match, after losing the Division III Final to Legacy in 2015 and the Division II Final to San Fernando in 2021.

LACES captured its lone Division I title two years ago.