LONG BEACH The Millikan boys basketball team fell to Inglewood, 75-71, on Friday at Millikan High School. Millikan (0-2) has battled two strong opponents in its first two games. The Rams fell to powerhouse Sierra Canyon 67-64 on a buzzer-beating layup Wednesday. Millikan coach Stephon Price says playing challenging opponents early in the season helps prepare them for a difficult Moore League schedule. “We’ve got to compete,” Price said. “As long as we compete and play hard, as long as we don’t make the same mistakes over and over, we’re getting battle tested. Ultimately that’s why we play these games.” Joseph Wicker led Millikan in the loss, compiling 20 points and seven rebounds. Jeremiah Hunt scored 17 and grabbed three steals. Wicker cited Inglewood’s aggression on defense as a contributing factor to the loss. “That press, I’m not going to lie,” Wicker said. “We just couldn’t handle the ball under pressure. We’re going to get back in the gym on Monday. We just have to work on conditioning and stay in shape, but we’ll figure it out by the end of the season.” Millikan built an early 13-5 lead on two 3-point shots from Hunt and one from Wicker as well as a steal punctuated with a dunk by Quali Giran, much to the joy of the home crowd. Millikan led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, but Inglewood (3-0, 0-0) clawed back on multiple three-point plays from Missouri commit and former Lynwood star Jason Crowe Jr. With the score tied at 18 and five seconds left in the half, Wicker intercepted an Inglewood inbound at mid-court, pulled up at the 3-point line and drilled a 3-pointer as time expired to give Millikan a 21-18 lead heading into the second quarter. Crowe Jr. paced Inglewood with 41 points, five rebounds and two steals. David Conerly added 12 points. With Inglewood trailing 35-31 in the second, Crowe Jr. hit a 3-pointer to them within one, 35-34, but the Millikan fended off the Sentinels as the half drew to a close, leading 41-38 at halftime. The two teams stayed close until the final seconds of the third quarter. Tied at 59, with time winding down, Crowe Jr. hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from half court to give Inglewood a 62-59 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Crowe Jr. sensed a momentum swing after his shot. “Once we got the lead and I hit the shot from half court, that’s all we needed to get us over the top,” Crowe Jr. said. “It definitely shifted the momentum of the game; they were kind of rattled after I hit that shot. We were the older team, I felt like that helped us a lot too.” Inglewood pulled away in the fourth building a 10-point lead 73-63. Millikan tried to muster a comeback on two, 3-pointers by Giran, but the Rams fell short by a final score of 75-71. Inglewood coach Jason Crowe complimented Millikan’s play. “It was a tough game,” Crowe said. “They have three unbelievable guards so they spread the floor on us, we needed to keep fighting, but we were able to pull it out so I’m proud of our guys.”.
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2025/11/21/millikan-boys-basketball-unable-to-keep-up-with-inglewood-in-fourth-quarter/
