OAKLAND, Calif. Palos Verde High scored the game's final points on a second-chance basket and beat Head-Royce 44-42 on Saturday. The Jayhawks fell to 11-6. Head-Royce led by as many as 14 points, but a 14-0 Palos Verde High run and a 14-of-54 shooting day (25.9 percent) cost the Jayhawks the game.
Head-Royce scored the first 10 points. Micah Nyamuzuwe hit a 3-pointer off a Bryce Clepper assist, Clepper made two free throws, and Andre Iguodala II followed with a two and a 3-pointer. After Palos Verde High got on the board, Micah Riebel scored a second-chance basket and Nyamuzuwe hit another 3-pointer from Clepper for a 15-4 lead. Palos Verde High cut the gap to 15-9, and the Jayhawks answered with an 8-0 run. Riebel scored a two and a 3-pointer, both assisted by Nyamuzuwe, and Iguodala added a 3-pointer on another Nyamuzuwe pass to make it 23-9, the largest lead of the day.
Then the game turned. Palos Verde High hit two 3-pointers in a 6-0 run, and Jack Peay's 3-pointer off a Lamarr Covington assist put Head-Royce up 26-15. After that, Palos Verde High scored 14 straight points on three free throws, a string of twos and a second-chance basket. A basket off a turnover tied it at 26, and Palos Verde High pushed ahead 29-26 before Alex Jones ended the run with a second-chance two.
Palos Verde High took its largest lead, 32-28, on a 3-pointer. Riebel and Nyamuzuwe each made a free throw, and Riebel hit a 3-pointer from Clepper and a free throw to tie it at 34. Nyamuzuwe's 3-pointer on a Jones assist gave Head-Royce a 37-36 lead, and after a Palos Verde High free throw tied it again, Peay's second-chance basket made it 39-37. Palos Verde High answered with a 3-pointer and a two, and Peay tied the game at 42 with a 3-pointer off a Clepper assist, the fourth tie of the day. The score stood at 42-42 after the first period. The only basket of the second period was a Palos Verde High second-chance two, and it decided the game.
Riebel led Head-Royce with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, including two 3-pointers, and he added three steals and three rebounds. Nyamuzuwe scored 10 points on three 3-pointers and had four assists, four rebounds and two blocks. Iguodala scored eight points with a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks. Peay, a sophomore, also scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds, three on the offensive glass. Clepper went 0 for 8 from the field but had four assists.
Shooting told the story. Head-Royce made 9 of 35 attempts from 3-point range and 5 of 10 at the free throw line, while Palos Verde High shot 33.3 percent from the field and made 7 of 12 free throws. Palos Verde High outrebounded the Jayhawks 37-29. Head-Royce committed only five turnovers and made seven steals but scored no points off turnovers. The Jayhawks' bench scored two points.
Head-Royce is now 11-6 in the 2024 summer season.