OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce came all the way back from a 25-point deficit to take a late lead, but Heritage JV scored the final seven points to beat the Jayhawks 65-58 in a boys junior varsity game Tuesday, Nov. 21. The loss dropped Head-Royce to 4-2 and ended a strong comeback that could not make up for a lopsided start.
Heritage JV opened the game with a 9-0 run. Davis Lynch answered with a 3-pointer on an assist from LaMarr Covington, and Jonah Greenberg scored off a turnover to cut the gap to 9-5. Heritage JV then went on a 14-0 run to lead 23-5. After a basket off a turnover by Jackson Benson, the visitors added a 9-0 run for a 32-7 lead, their largest of the night.
The Jayhawks started chipping away. Lynch hit a jumper and a 3-pointer, and Head-Royce trailed 38-16 before closing the half with a 10-0 run. Nick Taubes made two free throws, Greenberg scored, Taubes and Covington each scored off turnovers, and Max Roston-Saul finished a feed from Greenberg to make it 38-26 at halftime.
Head-Royce outscored Heritage JV 32-27 in the second half. Covington hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 47-40, and Greenberg's second-chance basket made it 51-46. Lynch then hit back-to-back 3-pointers, one assisted by Roston-Saul and one by Taubes, to pull within 54-52. After a free throw by Covington, Lynch made two free throws for a 55-54 lead, the game's only lead change. The teams were tied at 55 and again at 58, the last tie coming when Covington scored off a turnover on an assist from Owen Curry. Heritage JV answered with two free throws, a basket and three more free throws to seal it.
Lynch led Head-Royce with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and made both of his free throws. Greenberg, a junior, added 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and six steals. Covington scored 11 points with four assists and five steals, and Taubes, a freshman, had 10 points, six rebounds and four steals while going 4 for 4 at the line. Roston-Saul, a sophomore, added five points and five steals off the bench.
Head-Royce's defense kept it in the game. The Jayhawks had 21 steals and outscored Heritage JV 20-6 in points off turnovers. Their own mistakes and the glass were the difference, though: Head-Royce committed 23 turnovers to Heritage JV's 13, and the visitors won the rebounding battle 36-26. Heritage JV shot 45.1 percent from the field to Head-Royce's 35.5 percent and made 15 of 22 free throws, compared with 9 of 14 for the Jayhawks. The Head-Royce bench scored seven points.
Head-Royce (4-2) returns to action when it hosts Bentley JV on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.