The Head-Royce boys junior varsity team broke open a close game with a 16-0 first-half run and held Berean Christian JV to 18.2 percent shooting in a 55-30 road win on Friday, Nov. 18. The victory evened the Jayhawks' record at 1-1.
Mikael Akpala scored the first two baskets of the game to give Head-Royce a 4-0 lead. Berean Christian answered with a 3-pointer and two free throws to go ahead 5-4, and the lead changed hands several times after that. Richard Jones scored twice to put the Jayhawks back in front at 6-5 and 8-7, but a Berean Christian 3-pointer made it 10-8. That 2-point edge was the largest lead the hosts held all game.
Head-Royce took control from there. Micah Riebel tied the game at 10 with a basket, and Sanil Saxena followed with a 3-pointer to put the Jayhawks ahead for good. Akpala scored five points during the run, Zac Gottschalk added a 3-pointer and Riebel finished the 16-0 burst with a 3-pointer for a 24-10 lead. Akpala scored once more before the break, and Head-Royce led 26-12 at halftime. He had 11 points in the first half.
Berean Christian opened the second half with a basket, but the Jayhawks answered with seven straight points on a 3-pointer by Akpala and baskets by Riebel and Saxena to go up 33-14. Berean Christian got no closer than 15 the rest of the way. Gottschalk hit a 3-pointer and Jones and Henry Tatara each scored to cap another 7-0 run for a 44-21 lead. Later, Max Roston-Saul scored twice and Saxena hit a 3-pointer in a third 7-0 run that made it 51-26. Baskets by Roston-Saul and Jonah Greenberg pushed the lead to 55-28, the largest of the game at 27, and two Berean Christian free throws set the final. Head-Royce outscored Berean Christian 29-18 after halftime.
Akpala led Head-Royce with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Saxena scored 10 points and made two 3-pointers. Riebel filled the stat sheet with nine points, a team-high nine rebounds (five offensive), six steals and a blocked shot. Roston-Saul, a freshman, had six points, four assists and five steals, and Jones added six points and four steals. Gottschalk scored six points on two 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds.
Defense was the difference. Head-Royce totaled 19 steals, and Berean Christian made just 10 of 55 shots from the field, went 3 of 13 from 3-point range and made 7 of 18 free throws. The Jayhawks shot 24 of 65 (36.9 percent) and made 6 of 26 from beyond the arc. Berean Christian won the rebounding battle 42-35, though both teams had 15 offensive rebounds, and Head-Royce committed 18 turnovers.
The win was the first of the 2022-23 season for Head-Royce, which improved to 1-1.