OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce lost to Cornerstone Christian 36-28 at home on Saturday, Jan. 11, and fell to 12-8 on the season. The visitors grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and outscored the Jayhawks 10-3 in second-chance points.
Nick Taubes scored first on a feed from Jack Peay, but Cornerstone Christian answered with a 7-0 run for a 7-2 lead. Head-Royce stayed close. Bryce Clepper made a free throw, and Taubes hit a second-chance 3-pointer on an assist from Micah Riebel. After a Riebel basket and two more Clepper free throws, the Jayhawks trailed just 11-10.
Cornerstone Christian then scored the next eight points, including a second-chance basket and a basket off a turnover, to go up 19-10. Taubes hit a 3-pointer from Clepper, but the visitors still led 21-13 before the Jayhawks put together their best stretch of the game. Taubes scored on back-to-back assists from Clepper and Riebel, and Alex Jones hit a 3-pointer off a Taubes pass to make it 21-20. Jones followed with another 3-pointer to give Head-Royce a 23-21 lead, and Taubes finished a 12-0 run with a basket from Jones for a 25-21 edge, the Jayhawks' largest of the game.
The lead did not last. Cornerstone Christian scored off a turnover, tied the game at 25 with a second-chance basket and went ahead for good on another one, part of an 8-0 run that made it 29-25. Mikael Akpala hit a free throw to cut the deficit to three, but the visitors added a second-chance basket, two free throws and their only 3-pointer of the game to go up 36-26, their largest lead. Jonah Greenberg made two free throws for the final margin, and Cornerstone Christian outscored Head-Royce 15-3 after the Jayhawks took their 25-21 lead.
Taubes, a sophomore, led Head-Royce with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range. He also had three steals, three rebounds and an assist. Jones, a freshman, scored six points on two 3-pointers and grabbed three rebounds. Riebel, a senior, had two points, a team-high five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Clepper scored three points on 3-of-4 free throw shooting and added two assists.
Rebounding decided the game. Cornerstone Christian outrebounded Head-Royce 24-16, including 13-6 on the offensive glass. The Jayhawks shot 9 of 28 (32.1 percent) from the field and 4 of 12 from 3-point range. The visitors made 15 of 38 (39.5 percent) even though they went 1 of 14 from beyond the arc. Head-Royce made 6 of 8 free throws and committed seven turnovers, which Cornerstone Christian turned into four points. The Jayhawks forced six turnovers but did not score off any of them.
The loss dropped Head-Royce to 12-8 in the 2024-25 season.