Head-Royce never trailed and controlled the offensive glass Thursday, pulling away from Casa Grande for a 70-59 boys basketball road win. The Jayhawks (9-1) grabbed 22 offensive rebounds, turned them into 16 second-chance points and won for the second straight game.
The opening stretch was even. Casa Grande answered each early Head-Royce basket, and the teams were tied four times, the last at 14-14. Micah Nyamuzuwe had already made two 3-pointers by then, including a second-chance three set up by Marcus Lefkovits. The Jayhawks then took control with a pair of 8-0 runs. Lefkovits started the first with a second-chance basket, and Nyamuzuwe's third 3-pointer, assisted by Osagie Enabulele, and a Johnny Williams putback made it 22-14. After two Casa Grande free throws, Williams scored twice more, Micah Riebel converted a turnover and Malcolm Weekes finished a Nyamuzuwe feed for a 30-16 lead. Head-Royce led 30-18 at halftime.
Lefkovits carried the start of the second half. He scored twice in the first spurt, the second a basket off a turnover, sandwiched around a 3-pointer, all three set up by Williams, and Head-Royce led 39-21. Casa Grande answered with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 39-30, but Riebel stopped it with a basket off a turnover. Lefkovits added a second-chance basket and Bryce Clepper scored off another turnover for a 45-33 lead.
The Jayhawks kept building. Jaden Recker hit a second-chance 3-pointer off an Enabulele assist for a 58-41 advantage, and Nyamuzuwe's fourth 3-pointer made it 62-46. Topher Sah made two free throws, and Riebel scored off a turnover on a Weekes assist to push the lead to its largest point, 66-46. Casa Grande closed with an 8-0 run after a Lefkovits basket, trimming the margin to 68-59, before Clepper sealed it with two free throws.
Nyamuzuwe led Head-Royce with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Lefkovits posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, six of them offensive, to go with two assists and a block. Williams had 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists. Riebel scored nine points and made five steals, Clepper had eight points and three assists, and Enabulele contributed six rebounds and three assists off the bench.
The work on the boards decided it. Head-Royce outrebounded Casa Grande 43-30 and held a 22-10 edge on the offensive glass, which helped the Jayhawks take 70 shots to Casa Grande's 57 and outscore the hosts 16-5 on second-chance points. Head-Royce committed only seven turnovers and held a 14-2 advantage in points off turnovers. The Jayhawks shot 40 percent (28 of 70) from the field, while Casa Grande shot 38.6 percent (22 of 57) and went 8 of 29 from 3-point range. The Head-Royce bench added 10 points.
Head-Royce improved to 9-1 and returns home to host Bentley JV on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.