The Long Beach Poly boys’ basketball team is in the midst of a five games in seven days slog in the middle of the season. At times during Wednesday evening’s road trip to Millikan, that was obvious, with head coach Shelton Diggs subbing liberally and trying to keep his starters fresh. The Jackrabbits weren’t their sharpest, but still stayed in control against a feisty Rams team, winning 70-55.
“We’re just trying to stay rested and stay healthy, we haven’t had any time to get in the gym and sharpen up,” said Diggs. “I’m glad to come in here and get a win and try to turn around and get ready for Jordan on Friday.”
Poly was led by a balanced scoring effort, with Justin Rene dropping 19 points, Giordan Williams putting in 16 points, and Malik Salahuddin scoring 14.
Millikan trailed by double digits for almost the entire game, but never let Poly’s lead get out of hand, and were always just a few big shots—or a few more made free throws—from making it really interesting.
“We’re progressing, I think you can see that from where we were three weeks ago to where we are tonight,” said Millikan coach Nate Berger. “After the game I told the team, we were five or six possessions short. It’s about the little things, doing everything we can to create those extra possessions for the team.”
Millikan was led by Jonathan Green’s 17 points and Rob Diaz’s 13 points.
The win keeps Poly an undefeated 5-0 in the Moore League while Millikan drops to 3-2, trailing Poly and Compton.
Poly hosts Jordan Friday while Millikan visits Cabrillo.
