Heritage JV turned 17 Head-Royce turnovers into 14 points and pulled away for a 66-39 win over the Head-Royce boys junior varsity on Friday, Dec. 30, dropping the Jayhawks to 7-5 on the season.
Head-Royce scored first when Micah Riebel finished a feed from Ezra Goldfarb for a 2-0 lead, but that was the Jayhawks' only lead of the night. Heritage JV tied the game and then scored 11 straight points to go ahead 11-2. After free throws from Jonah Greenberg and Mikael Akpala, the hosts added an 8-0 run, with three baskets coming off turnovers, to lead 23-4. Riebel answered with a 3-pointer, and Zac Gottschalk hit a second-chance 3-pointer off an assist from Greenberg to cut the gap to 27-10.
Heritage JV hit a second-chance 3-pointer to reach 30 points, and Head-Royce closed the half with a 6-0 run. Riebel scored on a putback, Akpala converted a Heritage JV turnover into a layup off a Goldfarb assist, and Akpala scored again off a pass from Riebel. Heritage JV led 30-16 at halftime.
The hosts opened the second half with three straight baskets to go up 36-16. Greenberg and Riebel each scored off Goldfarb assists to make it 37-20, but Heritage JV followed with another 11-0 run, capped by consecutive baskets off turnovers and a second-chance score, to lead 48-20 and put the game away. Heritage JV's largest lead was 32 points. Head-Royce finished on a small burst, with Riebel scoring on a layup off a turnover from Akpala's assist and adding a free throw for the final margin.
Riebel carried the Jayhawks' offense with 25 points on 9-of-24 shooting, including 2-of-10 from 3-point range and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds and a block and scored 18 of Head-Royce's 23 second-half points. Greenberg grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for Head-Royce to go with five points, two steals and two blocks. Akpala scored six points with four rebounds, and Goldfarb led the team with four assists while adding four rebounds, three of them offensive, and two steals. Gottschalk scored three points.
The shooting and possession numbers told the story. Head-Royce made 13 of 63 field goal attempts (21 percent) and went 3-of-25 from beyond the arc, while Heritage JV shot 35 percent (26-of-74). The Jayhawks committed 17 turnovers to Heritage JV's four, and the hosts won the points off turnovers battle 14-4. Heritage JV also outrebounded Head-Royce 45-35, including 14-8 on the offensive glass, which produced a 14-5 edge in second-chance points. Head-Royce went 10-of-15 at the free throw line and received no points from its bench.
The loss completed a season sweep for Heritage JV, which also beat Head-Royce 62-36 on Nov. 22. The Jayhawks are 7-5 on the season.