Head-Royce's defense decided the game. The Jayhawks had 18 steals and turned them into 25 points off turnovers in a 51-36 boys junior varsity win at College Prep on Tuesday, Jan. 10. The win improved Head-Royce to 8-5.
College Prep opened with two baskets for a 4-0 lead, its biggest of the night. Head-Royce answered with an 11-0 run. Mikael Akpala hit a 3-pointer off a Jonah Greenberg assist, Richard Jones scored off a turnover, Greenberg made a free throw, Zac Gottschalk made a 3-pointer off a turnover and Jones scored off another turnover to make it 11-4. That run produced the game's only lead change, and the Jayhawks led 11-6 after one quarter.
Sanil Saxena's second-chance 3-pointer and another Jones basket pushed the lead to 17-8 in the second quarter. College Prep then scored six straight points, on three free throws and a second-chance 3-pointer, to pull within 17-14. Greenberg answered with a basket. After a College Prep free throw, Head-Royce went on a 7-0 run as Akpala scored off a turnover, Gottschalk hit another 3-pointer off a turnover and Micah Riebel scored off a turnover for a 26-15 lead. Head-Royce led 26-17 at halftime.
Jones opened the second half with a basket off a turnover, but College Prep scored the next six points on a second-chance basket and four free throws to get within 28-23. Akpala answered with a basket, and Gottschalk followed with a 3-pointer off a turnover for a 33-23 lead. Akpala later added a 3-pointer and a basket on a Gottschalk assist, and Head-Royce took a 38-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
College Prep cut the deficit to 38-31 early in the fourth, but the Jayhawks pulled away. Gottschalk's fourth 3-pointer, again off a turnover and assisted by Akpala, started a 6-0 burst that Riebel and Gottschalk capped with a basket and a free throw for a 44-31 lead. Riebel then scored the next five points with a 3-pointer off a turnover and a basket, building the largest lead of the game at 49-33. Greenberg's second-chance basket accounted for the final Head-Royce points.
Gottschalk led Head-Royce with 13 points, 12 of them on 4-of-11 shooting from 3-point range, and added four rebounds and two steals. Akpala scored 12 points, with a team-high five assists and three steals, and he assisted on three of Gottschalk's 3-pointers. Riebel had nine points, four rebounds, three assists and a game-high six steals. Jones added eight points on 4-of-7 shooting, with three of his baskets coming off turnovers. Greenberg posted five points, a team-high nine rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks, and Max Roston-Saul grabbed five rebounds.
Head-Royce shot 29 percent (20-of-69) and went 8-of-32 from 3-point range, but College Prep shot 23.4 percent (11-of-47) and went 1-of-10 from beyond the arc. College Prep committed 17 turnovers and did not score off any of Head-Royce's 18 turnovers. The hosts outrebounded the Jayhawks 35-33 and made 13 of 14 free throws, and each team had five second-chance points. Head-Royce entered the game at 7-5 and left with its record at 8-5.