Sherland Chensam has helmed the Hamilton women’ basketball crew for 10 seasons.
She’d been down this highway earlier than. Hamilton had misplaced twice within the Metropolis Part Open Division finals — in 2020 and 2021 to Palisades — since she took over as head coach and fell within the semifinals to Westchester final yr.
However Saturday night at Pasadena Metropolis Faculty was totally different. The back-and-forth contest represented a culminating second, not just for the Yankees’ longtime coach — claiming the Metropolis Part Open Division women’ basketball title by knocking off archrival Westchester 63-52 — however for the ladies’ basketball program.
Hamilton had but to assert a title within the Metropolis Part’s high division, and now the Yankees had achieved so with their nineteenth consecutive victory.
“I’ve been up this hill two times already,” Chensam stated. “What do they say? ‘Third time’s a charm?’ Charm came through.”
Senior guard Jade Fort scored 25 factors, main all scorers. Chensam stated the victory — Hamilton’s first Metropolis Part championship since profitable the Division 2 title in 2018 — was a testomony to her crew’s physicality and power.
The Hamilton women’ basketball is joined by cheerleaders for a photograph after profitable the Metropolis Part Open Division title on Saturday at Pasadena Metropolis Faculty.
(Benjamin Royer / For The Occasions)
Westchester (22-7) stored the sport shut and entered halftime tied at 30. However when push got here to shove Saturday, Hamilton (26-2) generated a fourth-quarter run that positioned the sport out of attain.
Hamilton seniors Elsa Miller and Kinidi Curl scored back-to-back layups, resulting in Fort sinking a three-pointer to offer the Yankees a 52-42 lead with simply greater than 5 minutes left.
“Once we come with the energy, the whole atmosphere changed,” Chensam stated. “And that’s what we did in the fourth quarter.”
Fort, who entered the sport averaging 22.1 factors, prompted suits for Westchester within the fourth quarter and scored eight factors. Hamilton ended the sport on a 23-12 run. She stated that the rivalry ambiance mentally pushed her and her crew to victory on Saturday.
“It means everything,” Fort stated.
Poly wins Division I boys’ title
The Parrots wanted the very best from the Wyatt household to assert their first Metropolis Part title since 1999.
Down as many as eight factors within the third quarter to Grant — a crew it beat by greater than 17 factors twice within the common season — senior guard JD Wyatt’s 25-point efficiency was the difference-maker Saturday night at Pasadena Metropolis Faculty. The Parrots stormed again to win the Metropolis Part Division I boys’ basketball title 50-49, forcing a turnover with 4.5 seconds left to finish Grant’s upset bid.
Coach Joe Wyatt, previously an El Camino Actual head coach, was dismissed by the Royals in 2022. Bringing his son JD with him to Poly final yr, the daddy/son duo tore via the East Valley League this season with an unblemished league report. Now they’re champions.
“He’s the world to me, to be honest,” stated JD Wyatt, who used to cheer from the stands for his dad’s ECR groups. “My dad, he really went through a lot. Him getting let go. That messed me up, that messed my friends up, messed my whole family up. Getting this [victory] means a lot, it really means a lot.”
The Solar Valley Poly boys’ basketball crew poses for a photograph after profitable the Metropolis Part Division I title with a victory over Grant on Saturday.
(Benjamin Royer / For The Occasions)
Grant (17-14) battled again from an eight-point deficit within the second quarter to finally lead for almost all of the sport. Senior guard/ahead Ronald Merrill led the Lancers with 18 factors, nailing a buzzer-beater three-pointer to offer Grant a 36-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
However Poly (23-9) used a 21-point fourth quarter — helped by senior guard Quian Khawaja’s 14-point second half — and a clutch Wyatt three-pointer to take a late 44-42 lead en path to its first Metropolis Part title since profitable the Invitational Division 26 years in the past.
“I’m excited because these kids, they stay together, they hang out, they’re always that tight-knit group,” Joe Wyatt stated. “And so them winning this, it’s a joy.”
