OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce stayed unbeaten with a 60-45 win over Hoopa Valley on Wednesday, improving to 4-0. A 19-0 run erased an early deficit, and a defense that held the visitors to 25.4 percent shooting kept them from getting back in it.
Hoopa Valley scored the first five points, starting with a basket off a turnover, and led 9-3 after a second-chance basket. That was its biggest lead of the night. Head-Royce then scored 19 straight points. An unidentified Jayhawk started the run with a basket, and Nicole L. took over from there. She scored off a turnover, then hit a second-chance 3-pointer that put Head-Royce ahead 10-9, the game's only lead change. She added another 3-pointer on a pass from Morgan R., and after baskets by Morgan and Leila H., Nicole hit a third 3-pointer on an assist from Leila. Melina M. finished the run with a basket for a 22-9 lead.
Hoopa Valley answered with three straight 3-pointers, a 9-0 run that cut the lead to 22-18. Leila stopped it with a 3-pointer assisted by Nicole, which started a 12-0 Head-Royce run. Morgan scored five straight points on a basket off a turnover, a free throw and a second-chance basket. Elena K. scored off a turnover on a feed from Morgan, and Nicole added another basket off a turnover for a 34-18 lead, the first time the Jayhawks led by 16.
The visitors made one last push. After Morgan's second-chance basket made it 36-20, Hoopa Valley scored seven straight points. It later added seven more in a row to pull within 39-34. Head-Royce answered with a 7-0 run: Leila scored, Morgan finished an assist from Nicole, and Nicole hit a 3-pointer for a 46-34 lead. Hoopa Valley got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Ella scored off a turnover on an assist from Morgan, and two baskets by an unidentified Jayhawk made it 56-40, which tied the largest lead of the game. The final basket came on an assist from Leila.
Nicole led Head-Royce with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range, and added three steals and two assists. Morgan had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 16 rebounds, nine of them offensive, along with three assists, two steals and two blocks. Four of her baskets were second-chance points. Leila scored seven points, and an unidentified Jayhawk added 10 points, eight rebounds and six steals.
Head-Royce shot 50 percent (25 of 50) and made 5 of 11 3-pointers. Hoopa Valley made 17 of 67 shots and 7 of 29 from long range. The Jayhawks outrebounded the visitors 50-32, grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and scored 13 second-chance points. They had 16 steals, forced 20 turnovers and scored 12 points off them. Two numbers kept the margin from growing: Head-Royce committed 28 turnovers and made 5 of 19 free throws. Hoopa Valley's leading scorer, whose name was not recorded, had 18 points on 7-of-24 shooting and seven rebounds.
The win was the fourth straight for Head-Royce, which is 4-0 in the 2022-23 season.