The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
It’d be hard to draw up a more dominant performance than Millikan’s win over Wilson on Friday night.
The undefeated Rams hosted Wilson to open the second half of Moore League play and looked every bit the part of a first-place team from start to finish. Led by a 31-point performance by freshman Quali Giran, Millikan never trailed Friday and built its lead up to 50 points in the fourth quarter while cruising to a 91-40 win.
“We played Rams basketball tonight,” Millikan coach Stephon Price said after the game. “We wanted to set the tempo from the get-go, and show people that how we’ve been playing is not a fluke. This is what we do.”
It’s been deja vu every night on the Millikan box score, with some combination of Giran, Jeremiah Hunt and Jojo Wicker leading the Rams in scoring each night. The trio combined for 67 points on Friday night, with Giran leading the way with 31 as the five-star freshman continues to live up to every bit of the hype.
“It’s exciting to be in the spotlight, but it’s also about being calm and humble in these moments,” Giran said.
“There’s no moment too big for him,” added Price. “He’s been preparing for this moment for a very long time. He doesn’t get fed up, he stays the course, and man, he’s him.”
The backcourt trio was especially efficient from behind the arc Friday, combining for nine three-pointers on the night. Hunt knocked down five of them and finished with 22 points, while Wicker contributed 14. Millikan also got strong support around the big three including an 11-point night from sophomore Antonio Coleman.
“We need those guys. It’s a team effort,” Price said. “Everybody knows us for the three, but we’re more than that. We’re a very deep team and I’m glad we get to display it out there with games like tonight so you can see what we really look like.”
It didn’t take long for Millikan to build a comfortable lead, as the Rams used a 20-1 run to close out the first quarter ahead by 24 points. Millikan allowed just five Wilson field goals in the entire first half and went into the break leading 50-18.
Wilson nearly doubled its first-half point total in a third quarter that was easily its best stretch of the night. Senior Matthew Searles knocked down a pair of triples in the period and finished with a team-high 12 points, while Noah Jaramillo added 10.
Millikan closed the night with a 17-2 run, triggering a running clock for the final minute of the fourth quarter. The Rams finished with their biggest lead of the night at 51 points.
With the win, Millikan moves to 8-0 and remains atop the Moore League standings. The Rams have four games left on their regular-season schedule, and Price knows they’ll get every team’s best shot.
“We just need to be better than we were yesterday,” he said. “That’s the only way we’ll go 12-0. Simple as that. We know that the second round is always going to be the toughest round, and we’re going to continue to approach every practice, every game, and every off day with that in mind.”
Millikan will continue Moore League play at Lakewood on Monday while Wilson will be at Poly.
