PASADENA – JD Wyatt scored 27 points to help lead Sun Valley Poly to a 50-49 victory over Grant in the CIF L.A. City Section Division I championship game Saturday at Pasadena City College.
Senior guard Kevin Lara sealed the first City championship win for Poly since 1999 with a steal on a Grant inbound play in the final seconds of the game.
Sun Valley Poly celebrates on the court along with fans after defeating Grant 50-49 during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly celebrates after defeating Grant, 50-49, in the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s JD Wyatt (2) charges through Grant’s Kai Setareh (24) and Harout Posheyan (32) during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Ronald Merrill (35) tosses the ball to a teammate before stepping out of bounds during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship against Sun Valley Poly at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Harout Posheyan (32) walks off the court after he and his team lost to Sun Valley Poly in the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s bench as they fell to Sun Valley Poly, 50-49, in the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Noah Lett (5) looks to the basket while defended by Sun Valley Poly’s Izzak Varela (13) during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Ronald Merrill (35) dribbles against Sun Valley Poly’s JD Wyatt (2) during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Isreal Mullings, left, loses the ball as it’s knocked away by Sun Valley Poly’s Qhalil Khawaja during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Isreal Mullings (15) charges towards the basket during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship against Sun Valley Poly at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Andrew Berry (2) takes a shot against Sun Valley Poly during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s Head Coach, Joe Wyatt, directs his team during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship against Grant at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s Jao Libunao, left, tries to rip the ball away from Grant’s Kai Setareh during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s Quian Khawaja, center, charges through Grant’s Harout Posheyan, left, and Isreal Mullings during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Ronald Merrill (35) takes a shot against Sun Valley Poly during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s JD Wyatt (2) dribbles against Grant’s Kai Setareh during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s JD Wyatt (2) takes a shot against Grant during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s bench erupts after JD Wyatt (2) nailed a three-pointer against Grant during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s Quian Khawaja, center, attempts a layup in between Grant’s Noah Lett, left, and Harout Posheyan during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Head Coach, Tarek Abdelsameia, left, watches as Sun Valley Poly celebrates winning the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s Joe Wyatt holds onto the CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 plaque after his team defeated Grant, 50-49, at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Sun Valley Poly’s JD Wyatt (2) receives a medal after his team defeated Grant, 50-49, in the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Grant’s Head Coach, Tarek Abdelsameia, looks over the runner-up plaque after his team lost to Sun Valley Poly, 50-49, in the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Show Caption1 of 23Sun Valley Poly celebrates on the court along with fans after defeating Grant 50-49 during the boys basketball CIF L.A. City Section Division 1 championship at Pasadena City College in Pasadena on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Expand“The team just stayed with it, defensively we stayed with it,” Poly coach Joe Wyatt said. “They did a good job of packing the paint against JD and he was able to settle down a little bit and start to get downhill.”
Poly and Grant are foes in the East Valley League, and this was their third meeting of the season — the first two were won by league champion Poly.
The fourth City championship win in Poly history was a family affair. JD’s father is the team’s second-year head coach, Joe Wyatt, who previously was the head coach at El Camino Real for eight seasons.
“It feels great to win the championship, we needed this,” JD Wyatt said. “My dad and I have been through a lot, with him being let go at El Camino. It means a lot for me and my teammates and they wanted to win it for him too.”
Poly (24-9) jumped out to a 13-8 lead in the first quarter, with Wyatt having nine of his 27 points in the quarter.
The Grant defense stepped up in the second quarter, holding Wyatt to six points in the quarter and giving up only eight points overall in the quarter. Grant had a 22-21halftime lead.
Ronald Merrill had eight points in the first half for Grant (17-14)
An issue that came up for Poly in the second quarter was foul trouble for guard Quian Khawaja, who is the team’s second-best scoring option. He finished the game with 14 points after scoring only two in the first half.
“When Quian got in foul trouble, it kind of slowed us down and kind of took us out of our rhythm,” Joe Wyatt said. “He showed out at the end and just stayed with it.”
Grant did a good job again defensively in the third quarter, holding Poly to eight points by setting traps and also continuing to use a box-and-one defense against Wyatt, who had only two points in the quarter. Merrill had 10 points in the quarter for Grant to help give them a 36-29 lead after three quarters.
Poly had a 12-4 run to open the final quarter of play with Khawaja and Wyatt leading the way offensively. Wyatt had 10 points in the quarter and Khawaja had eight. Lara hit a 3-pointer to give Poly a 50-46 lead with a little under a minute left.
Following the Lara 3-pointer, Kai Setareh hit a step-back 3 for Grant to cut the Poly lead to 50-49 with 19 seconds left. On the ensuing Poly possession, it had an inbound following a foul with six seconds left to go.
The inbound pass was given to Wyatt and Grant did a good job of trapping him, which forced him to travel with four seconds left. On the inbound, Lara stole the ball from the Grant player as he was trying to receive the ball, and that sealed the win for Poly.
“Kevin did a hell of a job,” Joe Wyatt said of Lara. “He was a kid that was kind of out of shape when I got here and has worked his butt off to get where he’s at.”
Merrill finished with 20 points and four rebounds with three assists. Harout Posheyan finished with eight points and nine rebounds for Grant.
Both teams will now wait to see where they are drawn in the CIF State Regional Bracket.
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