OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce shot 50 percent from the field and made 11 3-pointers, but San Ramon Valley controlled the glass and the free-throw line in a 67-60 win over the Jayhawks on Monday. The loss dropped Head-Royce to 10-7. San Ramon Valley outrebounded the Jayhawks 31-19 and turned 12 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. Head-Royce had no second-chance points.
Micah Nyamuzuwe scored nine of the Jayhawks' first 10 points, and Head-Royce built its largest lead of the game at 12-5 on an Ezra Goldfarb basket assisted by Nick Taubes. San Ramon Valley answered with a 9-0 run to go ahead 14-12. A later 6-0 burst stretched the margin to 20-13. Jack Peay and Sanjay Ernst each hit a 3-pointer to keep Head-Royce close, and the Jayhawks trailed 24-21 at halftime.
Taubes opened the Head-Royce scoring after the break with a 3-pointer, assisted by Nyamuzuwe, that tied the game at 24. After a San Ramon Valley basket, Mikael Akpala hit a 3 to put the Jayhawks back in front, 27-26, and Nyamuzuwe followed with a 3 off a turnover to finish a 6-0 run. Peay's second 3 made it 33-29. San Ramon Valley tied the game at 33 and again at 35, then took a 36-35 lead on a free throw and extended it to 39-35. Head-Royce did not lead again.
The Jayhawks kept answering. Akpala's second 3 cut the deficit to 39-38, and Nyamuzuwe's 3 tied it at 41, the fifth tie of the game. San Ramon Valley scored the next six points for a 47-41 lead. Peay and Nyamuzuwe hit back-to-back 3s around a San Ramon Valley putback to get within 49-47, but the visitors made five of their next six free throws to go up 54-48. Bryce Clepper added a basket and a free throw to make it 54-51, but San Ramon Valley scored three more second-chance baskets over the next few minutes, the last a 3-pointer for a 61-54 lead. Nyamuzuwe's 3 made it 61-57, and San Ramon Valley then made four straight free throws to take its biggest lead at 65-57. Clepper scored the final three Head-Royce points.
Nyamuzuwe led Head-Royce with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and made all three of his free throws. Clepper added 12 points and five assists without a turnover and went 6 of 11 from the line. Peay, a sophomore, scored 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep and had a team-high six rebounds. Taubes finished with five points, a team-high six assists and two blocks, and Akpala had six points and five assists.
Head-Royce moved the ball well, with 21 assists to San Ramon Valley's four, and shot 11 of 21 from 3-point range while San Ramon Valley went 3 of 21. The visitors made up the gap inside and at the line, where they went 22 of 27, compared with 9 of 14 for Head-Royce. San Ramon Valley shot 37.5 percent from the field but took 56 shots to the Jayhawks' 40. Head-Royce committed 10 turnovers to San Ramon Valley's five, and its bench scored five points.
The loss was the second straight for Head-Royce, which fell to 10-7 on the season.