Head-Royce owned the glass and pulled away early on the way to a 91-51 boys basketball win over Redwood Christian on Thursday, Jan. 25. The Jayhawks improved to 23-1 and stretched their winning streak to 16 games. They outrebounded the hosts 45-27 and turned 20 offensive rebounds into 24 second-chance points.
Head-Royce led from start to finish, and the game had no ties. Marcus Lefkovits opened the scoring with two free throws, and the Jayhawks led 10-7 after a Redwood Christian 3-pointer. Head-Royce answered with a 13-0 run. Lefkovits scored twice, Jaden Recker added a basket and Johnny Williams hit a 3-pointer before Nick Taubes finished the burst with two straight baskets, the second off a turnover, for a 23-7 lead. Williams assisted on three of the baskets in the run.
The Jayhawks kept pulling away. With the score 25-11, a putback by Marcel Pierre-Louis started a 10-0 run that included two free throws from Zach Gottschalk, a 3-pointer by Taubes and a second-chance basket from Mikael Akpala for a 35-11 advantage. Williams then keyed a 12-0 run late in the half, scoring eight straight points on two baskets off turnovers and two putbacks. Baskets by Lefkovits and Pierre-Louis made it 53-20.
Redwood Christian hit a 3-pointer before the break to make it 53-23 at halftime. The hosts then scored the first seven points of the second half, completing a 10-0 run that cut the deficit to 53-30. Topher Sah stopped the run with a putback, and baskets by Pierre-Louis and Recker restored a 59-30 lead. Head-Royce was never threatened after that. Second-chance baskets by Malcolm Weekes and Jack Peay closed the scoring and gave the Jayhawks their largest lead, 40 points, at the final horn.
Pierre-Louis led Head-Royce with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, adding five rebounds and three assists. Lefkovits scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting with five rebounds and did not commit a turnover. Taubes, a freshman, also scored 14 points off the bench and filled the stat sheet with five steals, four assists, four rebounds and a block. Williams added 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting with five assists, five rebounds and four steals. Peay, another freshman, posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, four of them offensive. Akpala chipped in seven points.
Head-Royce shot 39 of 82 (48 percent) from the field, while Redwood Christian made 21 of 60 (35 percent). The Jayhawks assisted on 24 of their 39 field goals, recorded 16 steals and committed only five turnovers. They held a 16-5 edge in points off turnovers and a 24-2 edge in second-chance points. The Head-Royce bench added 38 points.
With the win, Head-Royce is 23-1 and has won 16 games in a row.