The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial
The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
The Battle for Atlantic Ave. hasn’t been this compelling in girls’ basketball for quite some time. And though the result once again favored the perennial Moore League champions from Long Beach Poly–as the Jackrabbits emerged with a 55-34 win–the host Jordan Panthers showed the continued development of their program.
While the two league rivals are traveling on different paths, separated by a handful of CIF divisions, they both have aspirations for playing deep into February, and rosters that can get them there.
J-Town held its own early, tying the score at 11-11 thanks to consecutive buckets from Asia Edwards and Micah Lemons, but Poly’s defensive pressure took control of the game from the second quarter on, ensuring a comfortable road win for the Jackrabbits.
“Wes has done a tremendous job,” said Poly head coach Carl Buggs, showing love to his counterpart, Coach Rosenbaum. “That was a very tough matchup, they’ve got some guard play, some kids who can hit the outside shot, and have good size inside. But once our defense stepped up, and we cut down on what they wanted to do, kind of made some of the other players have to make plays, we started controlling the game. I’m extremely pleased.”
Senior Andrea Perkins was a key to Poly’s success, leading the offense with 17 points in the first three quarters. She knocked down five of her team’s seven makes from beyond the three-point line, taking advantage of Jordan’s zone defense.
“I love the zone,” said Perkins with a big smile. “That’s like my favorite thing. When Coach says the team is running a 2-3 zone, I know my shots have to be on that game.”
Perkins is playing–and shooting–with supreme confidence at the moment, and is an experienced leader for a talented group of Jackrabbits. Poly has several new faces in the rotation this season, and Coach Buggs is still working out his team’s rotation, but he knows that Perkins will be an integral piece of the squad going forward.
“Andrea has really stepped up her game and her leadership from the beginning of the year ‘til now,” Buggs said. “Now she’s playing like a four-year varsity player that’s been there before. Her confidence is at an all-time high and that helps tremendously, that’s one of the reasons why she’s shooting the ball so well. We’re still looking for a set rotation, but hopefully by the time we get through league, by playoff time we’ll get there.”
Poly ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 17-11, then watched their lead balloon to 31-15 midway through the second quarter. Jordan struggled to get clean looks after Poly increased its on-ball intensity, and the depth of the Jackrabbits’ bench took its toll.
The Jackrabbits held J-Town scoreless in the third quarter, pulling ahead by as many as 32 points in the second half. A total of 10 different players scored for Poly, with only Perkis reaching double digits. Jasmyne Shamburger had a nice night with 8 points while Brooklyn Taylor had seven points inside.
Lemons was a real standout for Jordan from start to finish, finishing with a team-high 16 points. The junior lefty hit her first three shots of the night to keep J-Town close in the first quarter, and did a nice job battling against some quality competition down low.
“Micah has unlimited potential–she’s strong, she can take the ball to the basket, she can handle it better than she thinks she can, and it was just about waiting for opportunities,” said Rosenbaum. “The best thing about Mikah is she plays her best against the best competition. So we were expecting her to come out here tonight and play well, and she did.”
Rosenbaum said he was pleased with how the Panthers played in the first quarter, and knows these games will help his team get ready for the playoffs. J-Town will need to stay focused with a couple key orad games this week, visiting Wilson on Wednesday and Lakewood on Friday.
Poly, meanwhile, is at Cabrillo on Wednesday and ends the week by hosting Millikan.
