The Head-Royce boys junior varsity basketball team fell 79-63 at Athenian on Friday, Feb. 3, as the hosts controlled the boards and dropped the Jayhawks to 12-7 on the season. Athenian outrebounded Head-Royce 43-35, pulled down 21 offensive rebounds and outscored the Jayhawks 17-6 on second-chance points.
Head-Royce started well. Micah Riebel opened the scoring with two free throws, and the teams traded the lead through the early going, with three lead changes and two ties in the game. Mikael Akpala scored three baskets in the opening stretch, and back-to-back field goals from Seabass Heredia-Zulaica and Riebel put the Jayhawks ahead 16-12, their largest lead of the night. Athenian answered with an 11-0 run, three of those baskets coming on second chances or off turnovers, to take a 23-16 lead it never gave up. The hosts led 47-35 at halftime.
Riebel brought Head-Royce back after the break. He hit four 3-pointers in a short stretch, three of them off turnovers, to keep the Jayhawks within reach. Down 57-47, Head-Royce put together a 7-0 run: Riebel made two free throws, Akpala scored off a turnover, and Riebel added a basket off a turnover and another free throw to cut the deficit to 57-54. That was as close as the Jayhawks got. Athenian scored the next three baskets to push the lead back to 63-54, then followed an Ezra Goldfarb basket with a 7-0 run for a 70-56 lead. After a Riebel 3-pointer, the hosts went on another 7-0 run, six of those points on free throws, to go up 77-59. The lead peaked at 19 before Max Roston-Saul closed the scoring with a free throw and a 3-pointer.
Riebel finished with a double-double: 26 points and 10 rebounds, with 20 of the points coming after halftime. The sophomore shot 8 of 24 from the field, including 5 of 13 from 3-point range, and made 5 of 7 free throws. He also had five assists and six steals. Akpala added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Goldfarb, a freshman, stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Richard Jones had four points and three steals, Heredia-Zulaica scored four points on 2-of-3 shooting and Roston-Saul added four points.
Head-Royce collected 15 steals and held a 15-4 edge in points off turnovers, but the Jayhawks shot 34 percent from the field (24 of 70) and 7 of 34 from 3-point range. Athenian shot 39 percent (30 of 77) and made 12 of 18 free throws, while Head-Royce went 8 of 15 at the line. One Athenian player finished with 32 points and 25 rebounds.
The loss ended a stretch without a defeat and completed Athenian's sweep of the season series. The hosts also won the first meeting, 64-47, on Jan. 18. Head-Royce is now 12-7.