Any record in the rich history of Long Beach basketball is worth celebrating—but what Long Beach Poly’s Jovani Ruff and Lakewood’s Nyemah King accomplished in their high school careers is unprecedented. The pair each capped off a standout four-year run as the city’s all-time leading scorer for boys’ and girls’ basketball, respectively.
Jovani Ruff joins elite company in the Long Beach Poly boys’ basketball program that has produced a state-best nine NBA players and sent more than 100 to the NCAA Division I level. He cemented his name atop the career scoring list this season while playing his final high school game at Los Al, ending his career with 2,063 points.
“It’s huge. He and I have been building for four years … I’m just proud of him,” said Poly head coach Shelton Diggs of the record. “He earned it. He worked for everything he’s got, and I’m just very proud of him.”
Among his many accolades, the Cal guard also set the single-game school scoring record in a matchup against Compton this past season, putting up an astonishing 51 points. Ruff finished his career with four First Team All-Moore League selections and as a back-to-back Moore League Player of the Year.
If you dug up the murky history of Moore League girls’ basketball since its first year, you’d be hard-pressed to find a career scorer with as many points as King—let alone anyone close. The Lakewood guard finished her career with 2,640 total points, capping off one of the best individual high school careers we’ve seen in the city.
King finished each of her four years with Lakewood as a First Team All-Moore League selection and was the Moore League Player of the Year in 2024. Through 112 career high school games, King averaged 23.6 points per game and made 342 career three-pointers. King will continue her career into college where she’s attending Cal State Fullerton.
