The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser and the Timu Foundation.
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.
The Battle for Atlantic Avenue was moved to the other side of Signal Hill on Monday evening, and the outcome was different than it’s been in quite some time. With renovations happening to the Jordan High gym, the Panthers hosted their rivals from Long Beach Poly at Browning High, with their eyes on earning a long-awaited victory over the Jackrabbits.
J-Town’s evening began with a swished three-pointer by Harmony Isaac on the first shot of the night, and the Panthers led the rest of the way in a 30-23 victory over their rivals from 49 blocks south.
“I think that a lot of these games are going to be similar to this,” said Jordan head coach Wesley Rosenbaum. “They’re not going to be that clean. It’s gonna be about making some adjustments, rebounding the 50/50 balls, and players coming up big in big moments. And they did. They just kept fighting.”
Senior point guard Janiah Lorn led the way for the Panthers with a game-high 12 points, and did a nice job creating scoring chances throughout the game, though points proved tough to come by for both teams. Isaacs had all eight of her points in the first quarter to help get Jordan off on the right foot, and senior Jah’asharee Moore chipped in six points for the Panthers.
It’s been at least two decades since Jordan has taken down Long Beach Poly in girls’ basketball, and the win was also essential in keeping Jordan atop the Moore League standings with two other one-loss teams, Lakewood and Wilson.
“I think it was very important, especially to our seniors and our coaches, because Jordan hasn’t beat Poly in like 25 years,” Lorn explained after the game. “So we wanted to make sure that we came out with enough mental focus to make sure that we stayed focused throughout the whole game. Even if we had turnovers, even if they went on runs, we made sure to stay steady throughout the whole game.”
Jordan’s defense did well to limit Poly’s offense, especially to open the game. The Jackrabbits had just one made field goal over the first 11 minutes before they started to get some cleaner looks and pull closer. Jordan led by as many as eight points in the second quarter before holding a 16-12 halftime advantage.
The teams traded buckets for most of the second half, but Jordan was able to go ahead by six heading into the final period on consecutive buckets by Moore and Lorn.
Poly got a big lift from freshman Jovahnah Dalton, who scored eight of her team-high 10 points in the second half.
Jordan’s victory has been part of a steady build under Rosenbaum’s leadership, and it was meaningful for a 12th grader like Lorn who has been a four-year varsity player and was finally able to celebrate a win over the reigning league champs.
“It was great, especially for our seniors, because we’ve been on varsity for four years, we’ve been working hard in the gym,” she said. “We’ve lost games, we’ve cried over games, we’ve gone through everything in the book. So I feel like for this to be the outcome, we deserve it because of everything we’ve been through.”
Jordan (13-7, 4-1) will continue their important week of games on Wednesday night when they visit Wilson, while Poly (4-12, 2-3) is back in action the same night at Cabrillo.
