Head-Royce piled up 34 steals and used a 25-0 first-half run to pull away from Balboa High for an 82-45 road win Saturday, evening the Jayhawks' record at 3-3.
The game stayed close only briefly. Mikael Akpala scored the game's first basket, and Zac Gottschalk hit a 3-pointer off an Akpala assist to make it 6-3. Head-Royce then scored the next 25 points. Micah Riebel had 10 points in the run, including a 3-pointer that made it 31-3. Luke Silva hit a 3-pointer off a feed from Max Roston-Saul, Ezra Goldfarb scored on back-to-back possessions and Seabass Heredia-Zulaica added a basket as the Jayhawks spread the scoring around.
Balboa High answered with a free throw and a basket, but Head-Royce kept the pressure on through the end of the half. Jonah Greenberg scored four baskets in the closing stretch, and a 6-0 burst built on a Greenberg basket and two straight scores by Richard Jones pushed the lead to 45-12. Jones finished the half with a basket off an Akpala assist, and the Jayhawks went to the locker room ahead 49-15.
Balboa High opened the second half with four straight free throws and played Head-Royce close the rest of the way, but the margin never came into question. Riebel hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Jones for a 54-21 lead, and Gottschalk connected from deep again to make it 59-26. Henry Tatara and Silva each scored late in the third quarter, which ended with Head-Royce ahead 63-33. Gottschalk opened the fourth with his third 3-pointer, and Akpala later made two free throws. The Jayhawks closed with a 6-0 run on baskets by Riebel and Akpala, then a Roston-Saul basket off a turnover that set the final score and the biggest lead of the game, 37 points.
Riebel led Head-Royce with 20 points on 8-of-23 shooting, adding seven rebounds (six offensive), nine steals and two assists. Akpala scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting and had five rebounds, a team-high five assists and two steals. Jones added 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting with six steals and two blocks, and Greenberg scored 10 points with seven steals. Gottschalk made three 3-pointers for nine points, and Goldfarb chipped in four points and four steals. Ten Jayhawks scored.
Head-Royce's defense drove the result. The Jayhawks held Balboa High to 34.8 percent shooting (16 of 46) and finished with 34 steals, with four players recording at least four. Head-Royce shot 45 percent (36 of 80) and won the rebounding battle 37-26, grabbing 17 offensive boards. The Jayhawks also had 16 assists, compared with four for Balboa High.
The win lifted Head-Royce to 3-3 on the season.