By Matt Szabo | Daily Pilot LA Times | Staff Writer | April 16, 2025 6:01 PM PT

Full Daily Pilot article can be found here.

Pacifica Christian Orange County boys' basketball senior EJ Spillman was in middle school when something happened that would change his life forever, but not define it. His father, Ellis Spillman, was shot to death inside a residence around the corner from his Long Beach home in June 2018. Ellis' life ended at the age of 42. EJ — whose initials stand for Ellis, Jr. — was left without a father. The dangers of gangs and violence hit all too close to home.

"It's real hard to escape those things, and people get real envious," EJ Spillman said. "He turned his life around, and obviously some people think you can't escape those lifestyles without bloodshed. He tried to instill in me that's not the way to go. I've got to fulfill his legacy, because in the middle of trying to change his life for the better, he got that taken away from him." When it was time for EJ to go to high school, he wanted a chance at new surroundings. Pacifica Christian's Newport Beach campus was about 40 minutes away from his home, but it might as well have been halfway around the world.

He played for four years for the Tritons with a certain intensity because of his late father. He owes his competitiveness and his swagger to his mother, Dawn Swanson, who EJ calls his best friend and No. 1 fan. Four years later, EJ Spillman is going places. He will graduate as the program's all-time leader in points (1,387) and assists (458). He helped Pacifica Christian (23-9) win a share of its third straight San Joaquin League title and advance to the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA title game. For his efforts, Spillman is the 2024-25 Daily Pilot Boys' Basketball Dream Team Player of the Year.

"You couldn't have told me my freshman year that I'd be a four-year guy, being able to break all these records and hold these things," he said. "It's real special to me, and it feels like it's a good testament of how hard I've worked here for the four years." Spillman, a 6-foot-4 guard and two-time San Joaquin League Player of the Year, averaged team-best totals of 15.7 points and 5.3 assists per game. The recent UC Riverside commit was also a first-team All-CIF selection after leading the Tritons on a memorable run that included an 84-80 double overtime win at Corona Centennial in the Division 2AA semifinals. Spillman posted 33 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in that game, helping the Tritons reach their third CIF Southern Section title game. Jeff Berokoff, who has been the program's head coach since its inception in 2016, called it the best single-game performance in team history.

What Berokoff will remember more about Spillman is seeing him pop into his office, a smile on his face. That energy was infectious on the court, too. Opponents would constantly see his dreadlocks flying past them into the lane, pulling up for a triple or celebrating a basket, he said. "What's so great about EJ is that if one of his teammates makes a shot, he's just bouncing up and down, throwing the fingers in the air," Berokoff said. "You just don't see that too often anymore, and that's just one thing I'm really going to miss, his ability to cheer on and lead his teammates. It's a really cool thing, man." 

The Tritons lost to league rival Fairmont Prep, 64-60 in overtime, in the Division 2AA title game despite a 29-point performance from Spillman. Seeded No. 14 in the CIF State Southern California Regional Division I playoffs, they fell 77-54 on the road in the first round at No. 3-seeded eventual regional finalist Redondo Union. "Nobody really likes losing, especially to a rival school," Spillman said. "Those ones sting, but it builds character. We made it farther than a lot of schools, and we made it farther than a lot of people had us making it anyway." Spillman was an unquestioned leader on a team that had just one other player, senior forward Logan Stewart, who averaged double digits in scoring. But he had played that role for a while. As a sophomore, he came up with the big block on defense late in a win at Orange Lutheran to lift the Tritons to the CIF State Division II title game.

Spillman fit in just fine in Newport Beach. He said he lived with the family of fellow senior captain Hudson Reynolds during the week this year to reduce his commute. EJ said he still talks to his father every day. "I dedicate everything toward him, and that's kind of just the motive of the day, just do everything in the Lord's image to make him proud," he said. "I understand what his mission was when he exited the earth and the Lord took him home, and I try my hardest to just complete that mission for him every day. I bet he's proud of me, looking down on all of the things that I'm starting to accomplish, but it's just day by day. I've got to continue to add onto that."