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

Alyssa Jaime stole the ball, was fouled, and made the second of two free throws to put Sun Valley Poly up by three points with 7.1 seconds left in overtime and the fourth-seeded Parrots held on to defeat LACES 67-64 in the City Section Division I girls’ basketball final Saturday afternoon at Pasadena City College. It was Jaime’s only point of the game, but perhaps her team’s most crucial of all.

LACES had a chance to force double overtime with a three-pointer but did not get a shot off in time.

Poly (23-5) captured its first City championship after finishing 12-0 in the East Valley League, beating No. 5 Garfield 55-31 in the quarterfinals, then upsetting top-seeded Hamilton 56-47 in the semifinals.

Jaime might have clinched the game for the Parrots, but junior guard Hannah Lising kept them in it, scoring 35 points before fouling out on a charge 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 after their seventh section crown and second in Division I.

Poly was making its third appearance in a title game, having lost the Division III final to Legacy in 2015 and the Division II final to San Fernando in 2021.

LACES captured its only Division I title two years ago.