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.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The Long Beach Poly girls’ basketball team faced the convergence of two realities as they opened Moore League action on Friday night against Millikan.
On one hand, the Jackrabbits have an 0-8 record on the season, with a young roster searching for their identity and learning how to win together.
On the other, the program was looking to extend its Moore League winning streak to 212 wins in a row, a streak that dates back to 2008.
After falling behind early, the Jackrabbits found their footing and displayed their trademark defensive intensity on their way to a 60-37 victory at Ron Palmer Pavilion.
Head coach Carl Buggs scheduled some tough preseason tournaments this season with the intention of challenging his team, and the results started to show after the Jackrabbits fell behind 8-0 over the first few minutes on Friday.
“We had to find out where we’re at. Our kids have gotta learn how to play, and so I think all those games helped prepare us,” said Buggs of his team’s 0-8 record, and the resiliency they showed in Friday’s win. “We grew a little bit today. It takes a little while, once we fell down 8-0, the way we made that stop and made a run to close off the quarter, that was probably the biggest growth that we’ve made all season.”
Three freshmen helped lead the Jackrabbits out of their early hole, led by ninth grader Eliana Mao who had a game-high 20 points. Along with classmates Jovahnah Dalton (10 points) and Nevaeh Johnson (7 points), the freshmen trio accounted for 37 of Poly’s 60 points.
Mao was a difference-maker in a productive second quarter for the Jackrabbits, scoring 11 points in that frame to turn a 12-9 deficit into a 30-20 lead for Poly at halftime. Buggs called her “fearless” and is pleased with the progress she’s made so far this season.
Mao said she was thrilled to get to celebrate a win with her teammates and protect their home floor, and said her confidence comes from hard work.
“It’s what I love to do, it’s my passion, it’s my dream,” said Mao. “Going out there every day, giving it my best, giving my all, I know that as long as I give it my best, what is there to expect more of? And when I’m so confident, I get that from just a mentality thing. You can’t do anything if you’re scared.”
Millikan senior Sophia Salazar got the visitors off to a strong start, hitting a pair of corner threes to get the Rams out to their 8-0 start. She finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the way for the Rams.
Poly was able to pull back within three points after the opening quarter, and then went on a 10-0 run to open the second frame, taking a 19-12 lead. Buggs credited Johnson’s energy off the bench to help spark that run, as the Jackrabbits were able to force some turnovers and get easier looks in transition.
“She’s an Energizer bunny, going to the hall, and making things happen,” Buggs said of Johnson. “I thought she initiated that, and then it kind of went from there. It kind of became contagious. We know what Millikan likes to do, we tried to take away what they want to do and get them out of character, and we were able to do that during that 10-0 run, because the kids followed the game plan.”
The Poly freshmen, along with sophomore Sohl Vadecha, and senior Ana Villamar helped increase the defensive intensity and shift the momentum to the green and gold. Dalton had six of the 10 points in that 10-0 run and assisted Simdi Akpamgbo (8 points) for another bucket.
It’s a whole new season for the Jackrabbits now that Moore League play is underway, and Mao is well aware of the streak that started three years before she was born. Having family members who are Poly alums, Mao took pride in keeping that win streak going–one of the longest in California history.
“To get a win and celebrate, it felt really good because we’ve been working really hard this season,” Mao said. “It hasn’t really been meshing well for us in the games, but I feel like today we kind of all figured it out. We kind of know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and we’re playing to that, and we know that as long as we’re working hard and working together, we can get the outcomes that we want.”
The Jackrabbits will be back in action on Thursday hosting Lakewood, while Millikan (7-4, 0-1) will host Jordan on Tuesday night.
