By Mike Clark
Jones/Payton has established itself as the Public League’s premier girls water polo program. Now its sights are set beyond the city.
Mya Garcia scored three of her four goals in a game-ending 7-0 run to lead Jones/Payton past Lane 9-3 in the Public League final May 3 at UIC Natatorium.
Nadia Williams added three goals for the winners, while Tatiana Haynes led Lane with two goals.
It’s the third straight city title and fourth overall for Jones/Payton (23-4), which denied Lane (16-9) its ninth Public League championship.
The teams could meet again in the Lane Sectional, where Jones/Payton is the No. 1 seed and Lane is No. 3 behind St. Ignatius.
The last two seasons have played out similarly for Jones/Payton with city titles followed by one-goal losses in the sectional final, to Lane in 2023 and to St. Ignatius in overtime last spring.
“There’s a lot of learning after that,” Jones/Payton coach Mac Varilla said. “A lot of development, even (by) myself. Fortunately, we have some time to make adjustments and regroup.”
To get past the sectional hurdle, Jones/Payton — which is ranked seventh by Illpolo.com — has beefed up its schedule. Its losses were to No. 4 York (twice), No. 5 Evanston and No. 6 Hersey.
“We have faced some of the top (teams) in the state and we’ve only lost to them by like two or three points,” Garcia said. “That motivates us to want to see them at state. We want to be able to make it to state to play them again.”
Garcia wants to see Jones/Payton’s run continue even after she and her fellow seniors graduate.
“I hope this motivates people,” she said. “I hope the upcoming freshmen decide to participate in water polo … just so that way our team grows.”
Varilla wasn’t surprised to see Garcia step up.
“Mya has been like a coach in the water for me,” he said. “Really proud of her. … She has the heart of a champion. She’s resilient … high IQ. … She plays both sides of the game, which is pretty rare in high school.”
The key against No. 18 Lane (16-10) was staying cool in another low-scoring game between the rivals. Jones/Payton won the regular-season meeting 6-3 and was up just 2-1 at halftime of this one after a scoreless first quarter.
Lane pulled ahead 3-2 on goals by Haynes and Andriana Shoorgot, but the lead lasted only 18 seconds. Jade Bonaparte’s goal tied it and Garcia put Jones/Payton ahead to stay 4-3 at 1:18 of the third quarter.
What flipped the script?
“Composure, discipline on the defensive side and playing with our head, not our emotions,” Varilla said.
“We did a good job of keeping our calm,” Garcia said. “We didn’t really care about the score. We have the mentality that we’re never up by a certain amount of points. It’s always that we’re down by one and need to play like that.”
Third Place
Young/Westinghouse 13, Taft 10: Leila Winston’s three goals led a balanced attack for Young/Westinghouse (8-10) in the third-place game. Luna Lopez scored nine of the 10 goals for Taft (14-10).
Photos by Andrew Rosenthal/OSA
