The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
If there was any skepticism left after Millikan’s lopsided first-round win over Thousand Oaks in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs, that doubt can now be put to bed.
The second round was a completely different matchup for the Rams, who went on the road Friday to face Windward in a game that proved to be a true Division 1 back-and-forth battle. Even after giving up a double-digit fourth-quarter lead and forcing the game into overtime, Millikan never wavered, leaving it all on the court in a 79-75 OT win.
“We’ve been battle tested all year long playing some Open Division teams on the road, and every single one of those games was a battle for moments like this,” said Millikan coach Stephon Price. “We knew this team was here for a reason and they’re a Division 1 team. We knew they were going to fight back which they did, but we made all the big plays when it came down to it.”
Following a 10-point Windward run in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, Millikan senior Jeremiah Hunt stepped to the line trailing by one with less than two seconds left. He missed the first free throw but knocked down the second to force overtime, then opened the extra period with a three-pointer and two big trips to the line. Hunt finished with a game-high 28 points in a heroic performance to help send the Rams to the quarterfinals.
“I knew that we could pull it out,” Hunt said after the game. “We were winning for almost the whole game, and it just came down to making tough plays in tough situations in the final seconds.”
Relatively speaking, it was a down night shooting the ball for a team that’s become so accustomed to knocking down shots at an efficient rate. The Rams made just five three-pointers on the night, shooting 20% from range and just over 36% from the field for the game.
A lot of that had to do with Windward’s 3–2 zone, which Millikan countered with a heavy dose of work inside the paint. That’s where junior center Christian Parron scored seven of his first-half points, while Hunt had nine in the first quarter alone. Senior Jojo Wicker went on a seven-point run before halftime to give Millikan a 12-point lead at the break.
Millikan still held a double-digit lead through the third quarter but was worn down by the zone in the fourth. The Rams benefited from being in the bonus early in what was otherwise an unproductive period, scoring just three field goals. Millikan made eight free throws, shooting 87% from the line on the night, but was outscored 26–15 in the quarter thanks to Windward’s late run.
“On the road, when a team plays a zone like that and you’re not making shots, you get stagnant,” Price said. “We weren’t making shots and guys weren’t moving, and that’s what happened. We got stagnant.”
With help from Hunt’s early three, Millikan carried the momentum into overtime and looked to its big three in the biggest moments. Wicker and freshman star Quali Giran each knocked down a pair of mid-range shots inside Windward’s zone, and Hunt followed with two perfect trips to the line.
Giran was fouled twice in the final two minutes of overtime and made one of two free throws on his first trip to bring Millikan’s lead to two. He then helped force a turnover on the other end before being sent to the line again, where he drilled a pair to make it a two-possession game with seconds left.
Giran finished with 22 points, four assists and six rebounds. Alongside Hunt’s game-high 28 points, Wicker chipped in 13 while Parron added eight. Parron also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Millikan will now move on to the quarterfinals Tuesday, where it will again be on the road to face Rancho Christian.
