The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
Story by: Chris Trevino
It had been a long, long time since Millikan boys’ basketball had beaten Long Beach Poly. Specifically? Three thousand and fifty eight days.
A decade.
That ten-year drought came to an end on Friday night as the Rams defeated Long Beach Poly 61-51 in a battle of the top Moore League teams in front of a sold out crowd at Millikan High School.
The Rams (15-6, 6-0) moved into sole possession of first place in the Moore League with their first win over the Jackrabbits (14-7, 5-1) since January, 11th, 2016, a 78-67 road victory.
“I mean, that’s why they hired me,” said a grinning Millikan head coach Stephon Price. “They hired me to make things like this happen, and that’s what I’m here for, to change the environment. Change history. I want to be a part of history. So that’s why I took his job.
It’s for sure a statement win,” he added. “It’s probably the best one we’ve had all year. It wasn’t the best shooting night; it was the worst shooting night we’ve had. We’ve shot way better than that. But yeah, man, a statement win for sure.”
Senior Millikan guard Jeremiah Hunt led all scorers with 24 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, and a perfect 11-on-11 from the free throw line to go with seven rebounds and six assists. Freshman phenom Quali Giran chipped in 20 points with three rebounds and three assists.
The battle for first was knotted up at 36-36 heading into the fourth quarter, where the Rams turned it on with a game-high 25 points, including five three pointers. Hunt kicked off the fourth with his second three of the night to send the Millikan section rocking.
But Long Beach Poly answered quickly with a three-pointer from Isaac Hagens and back-to-back buckets from center Jonas Oware for a quick 43-39 lead.
Yet, the Rams did not panic.
In fact, it was the moment the freshman Giran, who struggled to find a consistent shot throughout the night, took over the game with back-to-back three pointers to put Millikan back up 45-43.
“I told him, ‘This is why you are here. These are moments you live for,’” said Price. “And he rides for those moments.”
Giran’s spurt kicked off an 11-0 run that included another Hunt three-pointer and a gym-rocking basket from junior Christian Parron (10 points, six rebounds) for a seven-point lead with 2:23 left. Poly’s Nana Ofoegbu stole momentum back with a three-point play but senior Jalen Stewart (five steals) responded with the dagger fifth three.
It was a quarter made even more impressive given that the Rams could not find the bottom of the basket in the third quarter despite several open looks.
“I told them, ‘Keep going. Keep going. We make those shots. We always make those shots. We always grind that out,’” said Price. “So I knew the shots were gonna fall. We just gotta stay the course.”
“The mentality was just keep shooting,” said Hunt. “Even though we [had] home court advantage, we knew that some were going to fall eventually. In the fourth quarter, they started falling.”
Poly had a notable size advantage over the Rams but the home team scrapped for rebounds all night and recorded 18 steals to further stymie the Jackrabbit offense. It was nothing Millikan hadn’t seen before during a brutal non-conference slate.
“Man, we played Harvard-Westlake, Sierra Canyon, Notre Dame, Santa Maria. Their sizes are average compared to those guys,” said Price with a smile. “So that’s the reason why I did my schedule like that.”
“I think we just outhustled them,” said Hunt on their defensive efforts. “I think we played harder than them and I’m just excited we got the win.”
The Jackrabbits were down from the start, losing starting senior guard Julian Calderone to an apparent knee injury in the opening minute of the game. Calderone quickly scored the first points of the night off the tip but dropped on the other end of the floor while playing defense on the perimeter.
Calderone writhed in pain for several moments as he gripped his knee before he was helped off by trainers. He did not return to the game or the sideline.
Poly’s Ofoegbu led the Jackrabbits with 14 points while Oware added 13 points.
Millikan is back in action next week at Jordan while Long Beach Poly looks to rebound against Lakewood.
