OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce used 22 steals and a 43-23 edge on the boards to build a steady run of easy baskets, and the Jayhawks beat Berean Christian 78-39 on Friday to improve to 6-0. The win stretched Head-Royce's winning streak to six games.
Berean Christian scored first on a second-chance basket and led twice early, the last time at 4-3. Marcus Lefkovits then put Head-Royce ahead for good on a basket set up by Bryce Clepper, which started an 11-0 run. Clepper added a 3-pointer and a basket off Berean Christian turnovers, and baskets from Micah Nyamuzuwe and Micah Riebel made it 14-4.
Berean Christian pulled within 21-12 on back-to-back baskets, but Head-Royce answered with 14 straight points. Johnny Williams scored eight points in that stretch, including a 3-pointer on a Jaden Recker assist, and Nyamuzuwe finished the run with a basket off a turnover for a 35-12 lead. Recker hit a pair of 3-pointers in the half, and the second one made it 50-18. Head-Royce took a 50-20 lead into halftime.
The Jayhawks opened the second half with a 16-0 run. Clepper started it with a second-chance basket, Williams followed with a second-chance 3-pointer and Lefkovits scored six points during the stretch. Nyamuzuwe closed the run with a basket off a turnover to make it 66-20. Mikael Akpala later scored on an assist from Malcolm Weekes, and a Lefkovits free throw made it 78-27, Head-Royce's largest lead at 51 points. Berean Christian scored the game's final 12 points.
Riebel led Head-Royce with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. He made 4 of 5 free throws and added five rebounds, four of them on the offensive end, plus three steals. Lefkovits had 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Williams also scored 11 points, making 2 of 3 from 3-point range, and had six rebounds and four assists. Nyamuzuwe added 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting with three steals. Recker scored nine points off the bench and had three steals, and Clepper had eight points and four assists.
Head-Royce's pressure on the ball set the tone. Marcel Pierre-Louis came off the bench for six points on 3-of-4 shooting and a team-high four steals, and Osagie Enabulele made all three of his shots and grabbed six rebounds. The Jayhawks scored 20 points off turnovers and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, which led to 15 second-chance points. Head-Royce shot 43.8 percent from the floor, and its bench scored 23 points. Berean Christian shot 35.6 percent and made only 1 of 13 attempts from 3-point range.
Head-Royce, now 6-0, returns to action when it hosts Bentley JV on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.
