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 Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
For two high schools known for their storied track programs, the Long Beach Poly and Wilson boys’ basketball teams found themselves in a four-quarter relay Wednesday night as each team took turns giving it their best shot to be in prime position for the final period.
In the end, it was Poly who handed the game to their guards who took the baton in the final eight minutes and led the way as the Jackrabbits defeated Wilson 70-56 in a game that featured plenty of highlight-reel dunks and circus shots.
Nana Ofoegbu scored six of his 19 points in the final period, while Kamarie Smith and Khalen Sheperd scored eight more as the trio scored 14 of the Jackrabbits final 20 points.
“We’ve been going through challenges and difficulties in the preseason,” Ofoegbu said. “But, I will say we just had to come out here and encourage each other. We knew Wilson’s deal – they make shots.”
“We just found a group that stopped turning the ball over,” Poly coach Shelton Diggs added. “Once we stopped turning the ball over, we got good shots. We were fine.”
In a contest that featured two of the top big men in the city Wilson’s Andre Alvarez-Smith got the Bruins out to a quick lead as he scored four early points as they took a 6-2 lead. Poly’s Jonas Oware answered with five of his own points as Poly went on a 11-3 run to take a 13-9 lead.
However, Matthew Searles scored five points in the final minute of the first period as the Bruins took a 14-13 lead.
After some back-and-forth Poly (10-6, 2-0) retook the lead with a 7-0 run in the second period to take a 27-21 lead. After Jonas Oware pushed his total to 11 points to give the Jackrabbits a 32-23, Alvarez-Smith scored six points as Wilson trailed 36-34 at halftime.
The junior tied the game to start the third when he connected on a nice alley oop dunk to get the crowd into it and bring his total to 17 points. However, Oware met the moment and seven points as the Jackrabbits kept Wilson at an arm’s distance.
In the final moments of the third quarter, Shepherd was fouled on a three-point attempt and after converting all three free throws, Poly took a 50-43 lead into the final period.
“I thought we played 23 good minutes of basketball to win the game,” Wilson coach James Boykin said. “It’s a 32-minute game and guys just kind of ran out of gas.”
Wilson (14-6, 2-2) cut the lead to 50-46 but another run by the Jackrabbits put it out of reach. Oware scored a game-high 23 points and Sheperd scored nine for Poly. The Bruins were paced by Smith and Searles who each scored 17 for Wilson.
The Bruins will continue league action when they head to Lakewood on Friday and Poly will look to remain unbeaten when they host Compton.
