The Millikan Rams beat Poly 61-51, in their game at home on January 16, 2026. This win over Poly had them move into possession of first place in the Moore League with it being their first win over the Jackrabbits since January 11th, 2016. Millikans’ strong tactic throughout the game was doubling Poly’s big, Jonas Oware, where he constantly just wasn’t able to get open for his teammates and was constantly being closed off throughout the game.
“Our center, Jonas Oware, about 6 ’10, usually in the paint he dominates,” said Jett Von, “but every time he got the ball in the paint they would triple team him and crowd him, making it difficult for him.”
This was an issue for the team, as many Poly players have confirmed, because Jonas is a vital player for them when it comes to scoring in the paint. Another problem for Poly was the program struggling to pull it together as a team and keeping the togetherness between the players.
Nana Ofoegbu said, “Our preparation… didn’t come into play, just not playing like how we practice. They guard our big mans good, but adjustment wise they weren’t really making any adjustments, we were just playing against ourselves.”
“I feel like towards the second half of the game we weren’t really playing as a team,” said Jett Von, “and we also lost one of our crucial players, Julian Calderone to an injury in the first quarter so, it was an accumulation of things.”
Going into the fourth quarter, Poly and Millikan were tied at 36-36. There was little room for leading advantages between the teams throughout the game, when Millikan would score, Poly would as well. But, within the start of the fourth quarter, Jeremiah Hunt from Millikan scored, to which Poly’s Isaac Hagens quickly responded with a three, followed by consecutive shots from Poly’s center Jonas Oware putting poly at a 43-39 lead. Many Poly players admitted that they did feel as if they had lost because they just played harder than them.
“We didn’t have that drive, they kept shooting far shots and our defense didn’t change so,” said Jayden Ganther, “I think it was our worst game of the season, we could’ve won.”
John Chansy said, “I think we came out with low intensity, I think we got punched in the face and we didn’t fight back… we didn’t follow the game plan we had, we weren’t hitting any shots.”
In defense of Poly, they were at a loss to begin with, losing their starting senior Julian Calderone within the beginning minute of the game due to tearing his ACL. Calderone started the team off strong, scoring the first few points of the night off of the tip, but unfortunately faced his injury at the other end of the court when playing defense.
“It’s terrible, I’m a senior, my season ended, and I feel like I could’ve contributed a lot,” said Calderone.
Overall, the game was a huge win for Millikan, but as for the Jackrabbits, they can only work towards improvement for the upcoming season.
