OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce came back from a 21-point deficit and briefly took the lead, but Vacaville High pulled away late for a 69-64 win over the Jayhawks on Wednesday. Head-Royce fell to 9-3, done in by an early 16-0 Vacaville run and 57.8 percent shooting by the visitors.
Vacaville High scored the first two points at the free throw line before Lamarr Covington tied the game at 2-2 on a basket assisted by Mikael Akpala. The visitors then scored 16 straight points, including a second-chance three and a basket off a turnover, to lead 18-2. Head-Royce answered with a 7-0 run on an Akpala three, a Covington basket and a Nick Taubes basket. Vacaville High responded with an 11-0 run, from 22-12 to 33-12, for its largest lead of the game.
The Jayhawks chipped away from there. Jonah Greenberg made two free throws, Davis Lynch added three points, and baskets off turnovers by Greenberg and Micah Riebel cut the gap to 37-23. Andre Iguodala II then set up 3-pointers by Bryce Clepper and Micah Nyamuzuwe, and Jack Peay scored twice on second-chance baskets to help keep Head-Royce within reach.
The decisive stretch came late. Trailing 55-45, Head-Royce scored 11 straight points. Nyamuzuwe hit two 3-pointers in a row, the second off a turnover on a pass from Riebel, and Iguodala followed with a three off a turnover, also assisted by Riebel, to make it 55-54. Iguodala then scored off another turnover to give the Jayhawks a 56-55 lead, their only lead of the game. Vacaville High went back in front with a two and a three. Greenberg's basket off a turnover, assisted by Taubes, made it 60-58, but the visitors scored eight straight points for a 67-58 lead. Taubes hit a three on a pass from Lynch, and after a Vacaville basket, Nyamuzuwe closed the scoring with a three from Riebel.
Nyamuzuwe led Head-Royce off the bench with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including 6 of 7 from 3-point range. Iguodala had 7 points, a team-high 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Greenberg finished with 6 points, 5 rebounds (four offensive) and 3 steals. Covington scored 6 points on 3-of-5 shooting with 4 rebounds, and Akpala added 6 points on two 3-pointers. Riebel had 4 points and 3 assists, and Peay had 4 points and 4 rebounds.
Head-Royce's bench scored 38 of the team's 64 points. The Jayhawks outrebounded Vacaville High 13-4 on the offensive glass and held edges of 9-3 in second-chance points and 16-4 in points off turnovers, forcing 12 turnovers with 9 steals. The difference was efficiency. Vacaville High shot 26 of 45 from the field, went 7 of 11 from 3-point range and made 10 of 13 free throws. Head-Royce shot 25 of 61 (41 percent), went 11 of 36 from beyond the arc and made 3 of 5 free throws.
The loss was the third of the 2024 summer season for Head-Royce, which now stands at 9-3.