OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce jumped on International early and never let up, rolling to a 75-43 win Thursday, Dec. 28, to improve to 14-1 and extend its winning streak to seven games. The Jayhawks never trailed, forced turnovers all night and scored 15 points off them while International scored none off Head-Royce's six turnovers.
Micah Riebel opened the scoring with a layup off a turnover, and Johnny Williams hit two free throws for a 5-0 lead. After International answered with a putback, Head-Royce took control with a 13-0 run. Williams set up a Micah Nyamuzuwe 3-pointer, then found Marcel Pierre-Louis for a 3 and a basket off a turnover before hitting a 3 of his own off another turnover, a play Pierre-Louis assisted, to make it 18-2.
International never got closer than 12 points after that. Head-Royce answered a 23-11 score with a 6-0 burst on two Riebel baskets and a Marcus Lefkovits bucket, and later turned a 37-17 lead into 45-17 with an 8-0 run. Williams scored off a turnover, Riebel converted a three-point play on an Osagie Enabulele assist, and Nyamuzuwe knocked down his second 3, this one fed by Lefkovits. The Jayhawks took a 47-22 lead into halftime.
The second half followed the same pattern. Riebel opened it with a 3 from Williams, and Pierre-Louis scored twice in a row to push the margin to 57-29. An 8-0 run took the lead from 61-33 to 69-33, with Williams going 2-for-2 at the line, Jaden Recker scoring on a Williams feed and Enabulele finishing off a turnover. Topher Sah added a putback and two free throws to make it 73-36, Head-Royce's largest lead at 37. International scored the last five points.
Riebel led Head-Royce with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, adding seven rebounds and three steals. Pierre-Louis scored 15 points off the bench on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Williams ran the offense with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting, a game-high six assists, five rebounds and two steals, and he went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. Lefkovits had eight points, five rebounds and three blocks, Nyamuzuwe added eight points, and Enabulele gave the Jayhawks six points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Head-Royce shot 40.6 percent (28-of-69) and held International to 30.2 percent (16-of-53), including 3-of-19 from 3-point range. The Jayhawks piled up 14 steals and six blocks, won the rebounding battle 43-32 with a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass, and had 11 assists to International's three. They also made 14 of 17 free throws, and the bench scored 29 points.
Head-Royce (14-1) returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, when it hosts Bentley JV.
