The Head-Royce boys junior varsity team could not recover from a lopsided first half Wednesday and lost 64-47 at Athenian. The Jayhawks (9-6) committed 31 turnovers, and Athenian scored 20 points off them on its way to a 42-20 halftime lead.
Athenian opened with a 10-0 run, and three of its first four baskets came off Head-Royce turnovers. Micah Riebel ended the run with a second-chance basket for the Jayhawks' first points. Trailing 21-6, Head-Royce scored six straight points. Mikael Akpala scored twice, the second off a turnover, and Richard Jones added a basket off a turnover to cut the deficit to 21-12.
Athenian pulled away from there. Leading 24-14, it scored nine unanswered points to go up 33-14. Riebel made two free throws and Jones scored off a Riebel assist, and Seabass Heredia-Zulaica added two free throws to make it 35-20. Athenian then scored seven straight points to close the half and opened the second half with a second-chance three. That 10-0 run gave Athenian its largest lead of the night, 45-20.
Head-Royce won the second half 27-22. Riebel hit a three off a Jones assist, Akpala scored off a turnover and Jones scored on a feed from Riebel, a 7-0 run that made it 45-27. Later, Riebel and Jones scored back-to-back baskets, both assisted by Jonah Greenberg, to pull the Jayhawks within 56-44. Zac Gottschalk's three off an Akpala pass made it 58-47, but Athenian scored the game's final six points.
Riebel led Head-Royce with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. He made 2 of 8 3-point attempts and both of his free throws. Jones added 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, along with two steals and the team's only block. Akpala finished with nine points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Greenberg had three points, three assists and four steals. Ezra Goldfarb scored four points on 2-of-3 shooting and added four rebounds and two assists, and Sam Gulaid grabbed five rebounds, all on the offensive glass.
The Jayhawks shot 19 of 58 (33 percent) from the field and 3 of 19 from 3-point range, while Athenian shot 25 of 66 (38 percent). The Head-Royce defense had 17 steals, forced 15 turnovers and scored 14 points off them, but that was not enough to offset its own 31 turnovers. Athenian also won the rebounding battle 34-30 and outscored the Jayhawks 12-2 on second-chance points. Athenian's leading scorer, whose name was not recorded, finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds.
The loss dropped Head-Royce to 9-6 on the season.