OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce's boys junior varsity trailed by one point late in the first half, then scored 15 straight points and pulled away to beat Athenian JV 92-58 on Friday night. The Jayhawks improved to 9-5 and have won three games in a row. LaMarr Covington led the way with 25 points and six steals, and Head-Royce shot 62 percent from the field.
The early going was tight. Covington and Nick Taubes put Head-Royce up 4-0, but Athenian took a 6-5 lead on a 3-pointer and went up by five points twice, at 12-7 and 14-9. The Jayhawks pulled even at 17-17 after baskets by Seabass Heredia-Zulaica and Jackson Benson. Covington's back-to-back field goals, the second off a turnover, gave Head-Royce a 24-23 lead. Athenian answered with five straight points and later led 31-27 after another 3-pointer. The game had three lead changes and three ties in all.
Covington then took over. He scored four straight points to tie the game at 31, and after an Athenian free throw his two foul shots put Head-Royce ahead 33-32. That started a 15-0 run. Luke Silva hit a 3-pointer on an assist from Ezra Goldfarb, and Jonah Greenberg scored the next four Head-Royce baskets, the first on a feed from Covington, for a 46-32 lead. After an Athenian free throw, the Jayhawks added a 7-0 burst on scores by Jack Peay, Taubes and Greenberg to lead 53-33.
The game was decided soon after that. Head-Royce followed with a 14-0 run, from 53-35 to 67-35, fueled by two Greenberg baskets off turnovers, four points from Covington, a Taubes 3-pointer and a Davis Lynch basket assisted by Silva. Max Roston-Saul's 3-pointer made it 70-37. Athenian scored the next 11 points to get within 70-48, but Goldfarb stopped the run with two straight baskets. Head-Royce closed with a 10-2 stretch, and Roston-Saul's basket made it 92-58, the Jayhawks' largest lead of the night.
Covington made 9 of 12 shots and 7 of 10 free throws and added two assists. Greenberg, a junior, scored 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and added five assists, four steals and four rebounds. Taubes, a freshman, scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range, and had two assists. Roston-Saul, a sophomore, added eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, and Goldfarb had four points, five rebounds and four assists. Eleven Jayhawks scored.
The defense set up the offense. Head-Royce had 19 steals and outscored Athenian 20-9 in points off turnovers. The Jayhawks made 39 of 63 shots, handed out 16 assists and won the rebounding battle 23-12, with 15 offensive rebounds. Athenian shot 52 percent from the field, made 6 of 16 3-pointers and went 18 of 24 at the free-throw line.
Head-Royce, now 9-5, returns to action Thursday, Feb. 1, when it hosts Redwood Christian JV.