OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce beat Cloverdale 48-40 on Thursday, Dec. 29, and improved to 3-0 on the 2022-23 season. The Jayhawks controlled the offensive glass, grabbing 11 offensive rebounds to Cloverdale's one and scoring 12 second-chance points while Cloverdale had none.
Neither team pulled away early. Marcel scored the first basket on a putback, but Cloverdale answered with a string of 3-pointers and took its biggest lead at 15-11. Micah scored three straight baskets for Head-Royce, two of them in transition off turnovers with assists from Osagie, to tie the game at 15 and again at 17. Marcel then scored on a feed from Bryce for a 19-17 lead. The game had four lead changes and five ties in all.
Cloverdale moved back in front at 20-19 on a free throw, and Head-Royce answered with a 7-0 run. Christian hit a 3-pointer to retake the lead, and Marcel added two baskets, the second on a putback, to make it 26-20. Cloverdale scored eight of the next 10 points and tied the game at 28 with a free throw. The Jayhawks responded with an 8-0 run. Andre scored inside, and Christian followed with back-to-back 3-pointers, the first on an assist from Johnny, for a 36-28 lead.
Cloverdale got within 38-34 on a basket off a turnover and two free throws. Andre stopped that run with a 3-pointer on an assist from Bryce, and after a Cloverdale basket, Christian put the game away. He hit two straight second-chance 3-pointers, and Marcel added a free throw for a 48-36 lead, Head-Royce's largest of the night. Cloverdale scored the last four points.
Christian led Head-Royce with 15 points. All five of his field goals came from 3-point range, where he went 5 of 12, and he added a block. Marcel had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, four of them offensive. Andre scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, made both of his 3-point attempts and added eight rebounds (five offensive), three steals and three blocks. Micah scored eight points on 4-of-9 shooting. Bryce did not score but had four assists and four steals.
Head-Royce shot 43 percent from the field (20 of 47) and made 7 of 22 3-point attempts. Cloverdale shot 41 percent (13 of 32) and made 4 of 10 from long range. The Jayhawks won the rebounding battle 29-18 and made seven more field goals than Cloverdale. Cloverdale kept the game close at the free-throw line, where it made 10 of 17 attempts, while Head-Royce made 1 of 6. Head-Royce also outscored Cloverdale 4-2 in points off turnovers.
Cloverdale's No. 34 led all scorers with 15 points and made 7 of 9 free throws. No. 22 added 13 points on 3-of-4 3-point shooting, and No. 1 scored 12.
Head-Royce is now 3-0 and has won three straight games.