By Aaron Coloma

The Poly Parrots extended their lead to two games in the chase for their first outright East Valley League title since the 19-20 season as they defeated the second-place Grant Lancers 70-53 Friday evening.

Senior guard Quian Khawaja led the Parrots with a season-high 34 points as they dominated the defending league champions. He and JD Wyatt combined for 63 points on the night.

“It feels good,” said Khawaja. “I knew coming in this was a must win game for us for first seed. They just came off a loss to a team we beat, so they were hungry to get it. Everybody had to play hard, I had to step it up. It ended up being a good night.”

Poly won the tip-off and scored immediately through Khawaja before forcing several turnovers in the opening couple of minutes to jump to an early 10-4 lead in the first quarter. The Parrots would keep the Lancers at arms length throughout the remainder of the quarter, which ended 20-15.

Grant came into the second quarter hot, kicking it off with a 6–0 run to take their first, and only, lead of the night. They would relinquish it soon after, missing four consecutive free throws and allowing the Parrots to go on a 7-0 run. The Lancers managed to reduce the lead to three, but went into the locker room trailing 33-30.

“We got really selfish,” said Lancers head coach Tarek Abdelsameia. “We stopped looking for each other. They have two really good guards that can put the ball in the basket consistently, and we allowed them to score. That’s ultimately the difference.”

Khawaja caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 10 consecutive points and recording two steals, growing his team’s lead from three to nine in the blink of an eye. He didn’t stop there, though, as he and JD Wyatt took over to score all of the Parrots’ points for the remainder of the game.

“They defended their butts off,” said Joe Wyatt. “We held them to 23 points in the second half. I always tell them, ‘If we can keep the points around 50, 53 points, we’re going to win.’”

The Parrots have held their opponents to 56 points or less in all 15 of their wins this season.

Even with two straight losses that essentially ended their chances of a league title, all hope isn’t lost for Grant. The Lancers still have three games to play next week to close out the season and potentially improve their D1 seeding. They look to return to winning ways as they host North Hollywood at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 12.

“We worry about Monday practice, Tuesday practice, then get ready for North Hollywood on Wednesday,” said Abdelsameia. “We can’t change what happened, we can only worry about who we play next. Gotta move on.”

The Parrots have four games next week, including a rematch against Grant on the road. Before then, they will face North Hollywood at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 10, and Monroe at the same time Feb. 12.

“I want them to have their legs at the end of the season,” said Joe Wyatt. “They’re conditioned for it. They’re really conditioned for it. At the end of the season, other teams are getting tired, we’ll be in good condition.”