The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
Millikan’s win over Cabrillo on Monday night took just three players and three quarters.
The teams were knotted up through one quarter in a typical, high-intensity Moore League matchup. From there, the Rams took control behind a combined 62 points from the backcourt trio of Jeremiah Hunt, Joseph Wicker, and Quali Giran, who outscored Cabrillo on their own in an 81–50 home win.
“We knew we had to play with more intensity,” Millikan coach Stephon Price said. “We knew they were going to come out and fight and battle. They’re a well-coached team, and we knew they were going to be prepared. We knew they weren’t going to get rattled by us, so we couldn’t get rattled by them. If we fought through adversity, the outcome was going to be what it was.”
The lead head of that three-headed monster on Monday night was Hunt, who finished with a game-high 24 points and six rebounds. The senior has been with the program the longest of the three and has come a long way since making his varsity debut as a sophomore.
“His senior leadership has really stepped up,” Millikan coach Stephon Price said of Hunt. “He’s bought in. Since the Pius game in December, it’s really started to click for him, and ever since then he’s started to get Division I calls. He’s learned to buy in on the defensive side, and he knows the offensive stuff is always going to come.”
It’s been a balance of trying to feed each of the three scorers, but more often than not each gets their fair share of the load, as was the case Monday night. Along with Hunt, Giran chipped in 22 points with three rebounds and four assists, while Wicker added 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
“I felt like it was all of our night,” Hunt said. “We were all playing really well and playing together, and it was a great team win. I can trust my guys to get a bucket if I’m not going, and likewise, I can take the ball if they’re not going. I just think it’s good chemistry all around.”
The teams traded buckets in the opening minutes of the first quarter before a pair of back-to-back threes from Aaron Baptiste gave the Jaguars a 12–9 lead after one quarter. From there, the Rams went on a 21–3 run in the second quarter, including eight points within that run from Hunt.
Defensively, Millikan switched into a full-court trap in the second quarter, which helped slow Cabrillo during its scoring drought. The Rams outscored the Jaguars 32–10 in the second quarter and took a 19-point lead into the half.
“We should’ve started out with it,” Millikan coach Stephon Price said of the defensive change. “We started off slow for whatever reason, but we adjusted. That’s basketball—you have to make adjustments. We adjusted, got out and played Rams basketball.”
Wicker led Millikan coming out of the break with 11 of his 16 points coming in the second half, as the Rams opened the third quarter on a 19–10 run. Millikan continued to shoot well from behind the arc, with threes from Hunt and Giran, along with a triple from Jalen Stewart that gave the Rams their largest lead at 35 in the fourth quarter.
For Cabrillo, the Jaguars were led by sophomore Ului-He-Lotu Eteaki, who finished with a team-high 19 points. Aaron Baptiste added 10 points with three three-pointers, while freshman Zyair Hughes chipped in eight points. The Jaguars will finish out the week with Long Beach Poly on Wednesday before traveling to Wilson on Friday.
The win sets up a highly anticipated showdown for the Rams against Long Beach Poly on Friday, looming large in the Moore League race. If the Jackrabbits take care of Cabrillo on Wednesday, Friday’s game would feature the league’s only two unbeaten teams.
“We gotta go get one,” Price said. “It’s a home game, and it’s our first time playing them this season. This place’ll be rocking, so we’re gonna be ready.”
