The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
When Friday night’s game against Millikan went to halftime, Long Beach Poly needed to formulate a response. The Moore League champion Jackrabbits were clinging to a 23-21 lead after being outscored 15-4 in the second quarter, and all the momentum was with the visiting Rams (12-9, 5-2).
The third quarter answered all the questions posed over the previous eight minutes, and the Jackrabbits (16-6, 6-0) cemented their status as the top team in the Moore League with a 59-47 win at Ron Palmer Pavilion.
“It’s a simple game and we were missing open shots,” said Poly head coach Shelton Diggs of that four-point second quarter. “But we came right back out in the third quarter, and we’ve actually been talking a lot about that, because if we look at our plus-minus, our third quarters have actually been horrible … So we came out, got to some better spots, guys out on balance a little more, and we just made some shots.”
Poly got consecutive buckets from Jonas Oware and Jovani Ruff coming out of the locker room, and went on to win that quarter 19-11, pushing their lead back up to double digits. The Jackrabbits ended that stanza on a 9-2 run and led by as many as 19 points midway through the fourth quarter on their way to victory.
Ruff was efficient as usual, putting up a game-high 25 points while shooting 11/17 from the floor. Oware added 13 points on just seven shots, and all six of his made baskets were off Poly assists–four of those going to junior point guard Nana Ofoegbu.
Ofoegbu did a nice job orchestrating Poly’s attack, knifing through the Millikan defense and dishing out nine assists on the night, with four of those coming in the opening quarter. His ascension from sixth man to starter has helped Poly’s offense become more dynamic as he looks to get teammates involved.
“I just had to step up. My coaches trust me, my teammates trust me. They trust me with the type of pressure I have to handle,” said Ofoegbu. “I put time in with Jonas after practice, working on our moves, dishing it off to him, and I practice with everyone so I just know what they’re best at doing.”
After Poly went 0/6 from beyond the arc in the second quarter, the Jackrabbits made their first two triples after halftime, both off assists from Ofoegbu. The first was to his older brother Giovanni, who finished with 11 points, then Ruff canned his only three of the night to put Poly up by 7.
Sophomore Isaac Hagens didn’t score for Poly, but he played a big role off the bench to end up as his team’s leading rebounder. His effort defensively and on the glass helped spell Oware and gave the Jackrabbits a big lift in preventing second-chance opportunities for the Rams.
“I just try to come off the bench the hardest I can,” Hagens said. “Coming off the bench, I have a big responsibility. I can’t just go out there slacking. The starters are already doing their job, so I can’t come in slacking … My role is to rebound and play as hard as I can on defense, so I gotta do what I’ve gotta do.”
Diggs also praised the performance he got from Hagens, and knows how important guys like him can be to make Poly a deeper team come playoff time. Poly reached the CIF title game last season and has aspirations to get back there once again, only this time they have a deeper rotation that can help out the starters when called upon.
“If we play guys all game they’re gonna get tired, and they’re gonna have lulls when they’re tired,” said Diggs. “That’s how (Millikan) got back in the game because we were tired a little bit, so you need your subs to come in and contribute. Isaac did a wonderful job rebounding and we need him to give us some of that presence. He did a great job with that tonight.”
On the Millikan side, their top three scorers all hit double-figures, led by 15 from Jeremiah Hunt, who was 6/11 from the field. Tariq Bridges scored nine of his 14 points in the second to help Millikan go on a key 10-0 run to get back in the game. JoJo Wicker added 11 points for the Rams, who showed flashes of hanging with the Jackrabbits, and are a program on the rise with their only two league losses coming against the first-place Jackrabbits.
“I was telling my guys all year, playing at Poly–on the road against a veteran team–was going to be our toughest Moore League game of the season,” said first-year Millikan head coach Stephon Price. “They made a run in the third quarter that kind of messed us up, and that’s where the game went away from us … I feel like we competed. Poly’s gonna know who we are coming in next year. It’s not the same Millikan, it’s a whole new regime. I’m excited for the rest of the Moore League.”
Millikan returns to Moore League play next Wednesday when they host Jordan, while Poly will be back in action next Friday hosting Lakewood.
