OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce fell to Lick-Wilmerding 40-32 at home Friday, dropping to 1-1 in the 2024 summer season. The visitors made 14 of 18 free throws, and their eight-point edge at the line matched the final margin.
The Jayhawks scored the game's first basket and went back in front 4-3 on a basket off a turnover, but that two-point lead was their largest of the game. Lick-Wilmerding answered with an 8-0 run, finished by back-to-back 3-pointers, to go up 11-4. Head-Royce scored the next five points to pull within 11-9. Lick-Wilmerding then closed the half on a 7-2 stretch, capped by another 3-pointer, and led 18-11 at halftime.
The visitors pushed the lead to 13 early in the second half. After a second-chance basket by Micah Nyamuzuwe made it 20-13, Lick-Wilmerding scored six straight points, the last three on a 3-pointer, for a 26-13 advantage, its biggest of the game. Nyamuzuwe answered with seven consecutive points, starting with a basket set up by Bryce Clepper, to cut the deficit to 26-18.
Head-Royce kept chipping away. Down 31-20, the Jayhawks got a 3-pointer from Clepper on a feed from Nyamuzuwe and then a Nyamuzuwe basket to make it 31-25. Later, Nyamuzuwe hit a 3-pointer to make it 36-30 and added two free throws to pull Head-Royce within 37-32, its closest margin since the first half. Lick-Wilmerding put the game away at the line, making its last three free throws. The visitors scored 10 of their final 14 points on free throws.
Nyamuzuwe, a senior, finished with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 1 of 3 from 3-point range, and made all three of his free throws. He added three rebounds and an assist. Clepper, also a senior, had three points, three rebounds, an assist and two blocked shots. Sophomore Jack Peay went 2 for 2 at the line and grabbed two rebounds, and Nick Taubes led the team with four rebounds.
Head-Royce outshot Lick-Wilmerding from the field, 33.3 percent to 28.2 percent, and outrebounded the visitors 25-21. The difference came at the free-throw line and in taking care of the ball. The Jayhawks were called for 22 fouls to Lick-Wilmerding's 10, and they went 6 for 6 at the line while the visitors made 14 of 18. Lick-Wilmerding did not commit a turnover, while Head-Royce had seven. The visitors also made four 3-pointers to the Jayhawks' two, as Head-Royce went 2 for 18 from beyond the arc. Outside of Nyamuzuwe, Head-Royce shot 6 of 26 from the field, and its bench did not score.
Head-Royce is now 1-1 this summer after its first loss of the season.