Basketball Game Preview: Millikan Rams vs. Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits

Millikan hasn't had much luck against Long Beach Poly recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Millikan Rams will square off against the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits at 5:30 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Millikan comes in on three and Long Beach Poly on four.

Millikan is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Wednesday as they easily beat Compton 58-17. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 461st, while the Tarbabes are ranked 1055th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Long Beach Poly's strategy against Cabrillo on Wednesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Long Beach Poly blew Cabrillo out of the water with an 80-27 final score. The Jackrabbits have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 23 points or more this season.

Millikan better keep an eye on Joy Anderson. She was instrumental in Long Beach Poly's win, almost dropping a double-double on 33 points and nine boards. That makes it four consecutive games in which Anderson has scored at least a third of Long Beach Poly's points. Nevaeh Lemons was another key player, going 5 of 10 en route to 12 points and six steals.

Long Beach Poly has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.7 points per game. As for Millikan, they pushed their record up to 11-10 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.

Millikan took a serious blow against Long Beach Poly in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, falling 60-25. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Millikan was down 29-8.