OAKLAND, Calif. Freshman Jack Peay had 28 points and 15 rebounds, and the Head-Royce boys junior varsity team opened its 2023-24 season with a 72-32 win over Warriors JV on Sunday. The Jayhawks (1-0) controlled the glass, outrebounding the Warriors 49-21 and turning 26 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
The game started close. Max Roston-Saul scored the first basket and Nick Taubes followed with a basket off a turnover, but Warriors JV answered with a 3-pointer and another basket to go ahead 7-6. That was the Warriors' only lead of the game. Greydon Ting put Head-Royce back in front for good with a second-chance basket, assisted by Owen, to start a 12-0 run. Taubes scored six points in the run and Peay added four as the Jayhawks moved ahead 18-7.
Head-Royce kept pulling away from there. Peay scored three straight baskets in an 8-0 run, and Roston-Saul finished it with a basket off a turnover for a 32-13 lead. After two Warriors free throws, Taubes hit back-to-back 3-pointers, both assisted by Peay, to make it 38-15. A 10-0 run followed, with Peay scoring six points, Ting adding a basket and Davis Lynch making two free throws, and Head-Royce led 48-17.
Lynch kept the scoring going off the bench, adding three baskets, two of them off turnovers, as the lead reached 56-22. Tua Montoya and Peay scored back-to-back second-chance baskets for a 60-26 advantage. After the Warriors cut the gap to 60-30, the Jayhawks closed with a 12-0 run. Peay scored six points in the run, Lynch added a basket off a turnover and Taubes scored the last two baskets to make it 72-30, Head-Royce's biggest lead. The Warriors scored the game's final basket off a turnover.
Peay made 14 of 23 shots from the field and added six offensive rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. Taubes scored 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range, and filled the stat sheet with six steals, five assists and six rebounds. Lynch scored 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting and made both of his free throws. Sam Gulaid had four points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and Roston-Saul finished with four points, four assists and four steals.
The team numbers backed up the final score. Head-Royce shot 41 percent (34 of 83) and held the Warriors to 26.5 percent (13 of 49), including 2 of 16 from 3-point range. The Jayhawks had 19 steals, outscored the Warriors 20-4 in points off turnovers and assisted on 18 of their 34 field goals. The bench added 16 points, while the Warriors had no second-chance points.
Head-Royce (1-0) will next host Bentley JV on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.