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
The first time Long Beach Poly girls’ basketball met Millikan High School for the 2025-26 season, just over a month ago, the Jackrabbits needed to pull off a comeback for an opening win in Moore League play.
Friday was the same result but with a different story as Long Beach Poly defeated the Rams 54-21 at Millikan High School.
Freshman Poly point guard Eliana Mao paced the Jackrabbits (6-12, 4-3) with 16 points to lead all scorers, including three big three pointers. Fellow freshman guard Nevaeh Johnson added in a career-high 12 points.
Turnovers were the theme of the game for both teams as the Rams (11-10, 3-4) struggled to find any momentum on offense, sunk in the first half with 16 giveaways. Poly also turned the ball over, but head coach Carl Buggs saw improvement from his young squad.
“We’ve just been trying to build confidence. We have a young team and experience, and every day is a growing process. We really tried to focus on making simple passes. We’ve been throwing the ball away too much, too easily. And when we take care of the ball, we give ourselves chances to win and get more opportunities to shoot. That happened today,” said Buggs. “We took care of the ball better. We had some turnovers, but we took care of the ball better, so we had more opportunities to score. I’m like, ‘if you give yourself a chance to score, look what can happen.’ So, we really tried to focus on that aspect of the game that’s been hurting us all season long. Hopefully it carries on.”
Buggs also saw growth in the freshman Johnson, who he called the “breakout” player with her 12 points on Friday. She also chipped in several key rebounds and sticky defense for multiple steals.
“I feel like I played amazing. I was actually knocking down my shots. I took my time. Normally, in most of the games I rush or I turn the ball over,” said Johnson with a smile. “And I feel like today, I really played like how I was supposed to play, and I really played with confidence.
Something just clicked for me,” she added. “I don’t know, after so many breakdowns and just going through a lot, I feel like we really needed this.”
The Jackrabbits took early control of the game with a 7-0 advantage that turned into a 15-7 lead after the first quarter. The Rams managed to cut the lead to six points in the second but could not carry the momentum with just four total points for the period as Poly built a 16-point lead at halftime.
Mao and Johnson each hit three pointers in the second with seven points in total for Johnson to spark her performance. Mao hit a buzzer beater to end the third quarter for a 42-17 lead as Poly pulled its starters going into the fourth period.
Freshman Jovahnah Dalton and junior Simdi Akpamgbo each chipped in eight points for the Jackrabbits while sophomore Estela Lopez led Millikan with eight points, followed by seven points from Sophia Salazar.
The overall youth of Long Beach Poly this season has opened the door for a potential new champion in the Moore League, which should make for a fun finish for the top spot with Jordan, Long Beach Wilson and Lakewood all in the hunt.
“I mean, we could be in first place if we cut the turnovers down. So with this league, even with Millikan, five teams can beat each other on any given night. They beat Jordan, right? And we lost to the top three, but they were all close games,” said Buggs. “So if we eliminate some of the things and continue to get better on some of the other things. You know, we expect to be battling.”
Long Beach Poly is set to play a non-league contest against Westchester this weekend before returning to play Lakewood on the road next Friday. Millikan will go on the road to face Jordan next Wednesday.
