The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
It came as no surprise that Millikan’s CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinal on Tuesday against Rancho Christian went wire-to-wire, and it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from a Rams team that entered the night on a 13-game winning streak following an overtime second-round win over Windward.
The Rams looked primed for another strong finish after finding themselves tied heading into the fourth quarter against Rancho Christian, setting the stage for another fourth-quarter showdown. Ultimately, Millikan gave everything it had left in the final eight minutes but couldn’t contain the Eagles down the stretch in a 71–62 loss.
“It was a battle, man,” said Millikan coach Stephon Price. “We battled the whole game and I’m proud of my guys. We came up just short, but one thing you do is you don’t leave any regrets with what you do. I feel like we left it all on the court.”
For the first time in a while, it was Millikan that trailed for most of the game including nearly the entire first half. The Rams’ big-three backcourt of Jeremiah Hunt, Joseph Wicker and Quali Giran were held to just seven points apiece in the half, while Rancho Christian went into the break leading by five.
Defensively, the Eagles opened the game with full-court pressure and a 3-2 zone, similar to the one Windward threw at Millikan in the second round. That perimeter pressure helped dampen Millikan’s three-point shooting, paired with Rancho Christian’s two 6-foot-9 big men in the paint, Dave Maples and Daniel Bol.
“We just couldn’t get into any type of rhythm,” Price said. “In the second half we were able to catch a rhythm, but we just had to adjust and move some things around, so we started scoring easier in the second half.”
Millikan came out of the break with a pair of three-pointers from Hunt and Giran that eventually brought the Rams within a point. From there, the Rams got a man-to-man look, where Giran went to work, scoring 10 straight Millikan points to give them a three-point lead. Giran finished with a game-high 18 points.
“He’s been like that for a very very long time,” Price said of Giran in the big games. “He doesn’t get rattled and nobody speeds him up. There’s some things that we’ll work on during the offseason, but he’s only going to get better and better by the day.”
Rancho Christian used a couple trips to the line as part of a 7–2 run to close the quarter tied 49–49 heading into the fourth.
The Eagles went back to a zone defense to open the fourth quarter, but Giran took advantage by finding Christian Parron in the soft spot for a pair of easy layups. Wicker then hit a three-pointer amid a back-and-forth start to the quarter that gave Millikan a four-point lead—its largest of the period.
From there, Rancho Christian outscored Millikan 21–11 in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, exploiting its mismatch inside with Bol, who had eight of his 16 points in the period. The Eagles pulled away on a 9–2 run to close it out and punch their ticket to the second round.
“I just wanted them to continue to fight,” Price said. “Continue to battle. There were a couple calls and a couple balls that didn’t go our way, but that’s just what happens.”
Alongside Giran’s 18 points, Hunt had 16 while Wicker finished with 10. Jalen Stewart added eight, and all four guards finished with a pair of three-pointers. Junior Christian Parron had nine points, as Millikan’s starters scored all but one of the team’s points.
After the game, Price shared an emotional moment with his team in the locker room before speaking on the frustration of not ending things the way they wanted. He also had a special message for his seniors, including three of his starters from the last two years: Hunt, Wicker, and Stewart.
“It hurts just because you know how hard they work,” he said. “They worked so much and they deserve everything, so those are the emotions coming out of it. All the 5am workouts, the three a days, all of those things are going through my mind. I’m proud of these guys, man.”
Rancho Christian will move on to face Crean Lutheran in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs on Friday.
