OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce fell to Northgate High 78-57 on Friday night, dropping to 6-2 on the season. Northgate controlled the glass and built a 23-point halftime lead that the Jayhawks could not recover from.
Northgate opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and Micah Nyamuzuwe answered with a 3 of his own, assisted by Bryce Clepper, to tie the game at 3-3. That was the only tie of the night. Northgate went ahead 8-3, and baskets from Mikael Akpala and Alex Jones, plus a Jones free throw, pulled Head-Royce within 10-8. Northgate then scored eight straight points to lead 18-8, with two of those baskets coming on second chances.
Nick Taubes hit a 3 to make it 18-11, but Northgate kept pulling away. After a Clepper 3 cut the deficit to 24-15, Northgate went on another 8-0 run, this one built on two free throws and back-to-back 3-pointers, to go up 32-15. The lead reached 43-19 before a Clepper free throw and a Nyamuzuwe 3 off a turnover, assisted by Jack Peay, trimmed it to 43-23. Northgate answered with a second-chance 3 and took a 46-23 lead into halftime.
Northgate scored the first five points after the break to open its largest lead of the night at 50-23. Head-Royce responded with an 8-0 run later in the half, as Clepper hit a 3 off a Sanjay Ernst assist and Nyamuzuwe followed with a basket and a 3 to make it 53-35. Akpala later hit back-to-back 3s to cut the margin to 59-41. The Jayhawks' best stretch came after Northgate stretched the lead to 65-41. Peay scored inside, Akpala hit a 3 off a turnover, Taubes converted another turnover into a basket and Jones hit a 3, a 10-0 run that pulled Head-Royce within 65-51. Northgate answered with two straight baskets and closed the game on a 9-2 stretch, with Ezra Goldfarb's second-chance basket the Jayhawks' only points in that span.
Akpala led Head-Royce with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 3 of 8 from 3-point range, and added four rebounds. Nyamuzuwe scored 12 points with three 3-pointers, four rebounds, two assists and three blocks. Clepper added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and made both of his 3-point attempts. Off the bench, Jones scored eight points, Peay added six on 3-of-4 shooting and Taubes had five points with a team-high four assists. Jonah Greenberg grabbed a team-high five rebounds, and Goldfarb pulled down four.
The rebounding margin told the story. Northgate outrebounded Head-Royce 35-23, including 10-3 on the offensive glass, and turned that edge into an 11-2 advantage in second-chance points. Northgate shot 49 percent from the field to 41 percent for Head-Royce and made 11 of 15 free throws, while the Jayhawks went 3 of 6 at the line. Both teams committed nine turnovers and scored eight points off turnovers. The Head-Royce bench contributed 21 points, and the Jayhawks outscored Northgate 34-32 in the second half.
Head-Royce is now 6-2 on the season.