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.
The Wilson boys’ lacrosse team was in need of a get-right game after a couple of wins that the team felt like they didn’t play to their standard.
The Bruins picked a good time to get back into their style of play on Tuesday as they defeated Millikan 11-6 to take sole possession of first place in the Moore League.
“I couldn’t ask for more from my guys,” Wilson coach Erick Bear said. “Like I said last time, we need to work on the fundamentals, like clearing and ground balls, but you could say that about any game. They came out and performed and I couldn’t ask for more from my guys.”
Millikan’s Jason James came out firing in the first quarter to give the Rams an early 1-0 lead, but Wilson’s Kaden Wright responded with his first goal to tie the game with 7:33 left in the period.
Both teams traded goals as Cash Riordan gave the Bruins the lead before Millikan’s Edgar Bejero responded with his own goal to tie the game again with 6:32 left.
That’s when Wilson’s defense started to lock in with some help from senior goalie Ryan Bruce. Wright scored his second goal and Ivan Van Divort scored his first as the Bruins took a 4-2 lead after the first quarter.
“It’s always good to play Millikan,” Van Divort said. “They’re our main competition. I was little concerned with how hot it was gonna be, but we played our game. We played at our level and I’m happy about that.”
In the second quarter the Rams’ offense went quiet and Wilson took advantage as they went on a 3-0 run to take a 7-2 lead at halftime thanks to goals from Riordan, Jaxson Danell and Van Divort.
Danell scored his second goal to give Wilson a commanding 8-2 lead with 7:21 left in the third, but that’s when Millikan’s offense showed some life.
Bejero scored his second goal and Cameron Whitcomb followed that with his own to make it 8-4 with 6:03 left in the third. With 1:18 remaining in the third, James scored his second goal to cut Wilson’s lead to three.
“Just gotta get in a better headspace,” Millikan coach Jared Weckerly said. “I think we’re a really good team. We’re better than that for sure.”
However, Wright scored his third goal to give the Bruins a 9-5 lead heading into the final period and Van Divort put the game out of reach with his third goal as the Bruins only allowed one more goal the rest of the game.
Millikan will wrap up the first round of Moore League games on Friday when they take on Long Beach Poly, while Wilson has a bye before they have their first second-round game vs Lakewood next Tuesday.
