OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce forced 15 turnovers and beat Hayward High 54-49 in summer play Monday to improve to 9-5. The Jayhawks committed only four turnovers and outscored Hayward High 15-2 in points off turnovers.
Hayward High scored first with two free throws. The lead changed hands three times in the opening minutes. Nick hit a 3-pointer to put Head-Royce ahead 3-2, and Hayward High answered with a 3 of its own for a 5-3 lead. Tua's 3-pointer, assisted by Nick, started an 8-0 run that gave the Jayhawks the lead for good. Tua added another 3 off a turnover, and Nick scored off a steal to make it 11-5. Tua and Jack hit back-to-back 3-pointers, both set up by Nick, to make it 17-7. Jack's jumper made it 21-11.
Hayward High came back, scoring six straight points on a two and four free throws to tie the game at 23-23. Head-Royce answered with a 9-0 run. Tua hit a 3 off a turnover on a pass from Sanjay, Jack followed with a 3 from Tua, and free throws by Sanjay and Nick made it 32-23. Hayward High then scored seven straight to cut the lead to 32-30. The Jayhawks responded with seven unanswered points, the last four on two baskets by Idan, the second off a turnover, for a 39-30 lead.
Head-Royce kept Hayward High at a distance from there. Val scored on a putback, and Jack hit a second-chance 3 assisted by Jackson to make it 46-36. Nick scored twice in a row, the second off a turnover, to give the Jayhawks their biggest lead, 50-38. Tua's basket made it 52-41, but Hayward High scored the next eight points, three on free throws and six on second-chance and turnover baskets, to pull within 52-49. Nick ended the run with a basket off a feed from Jack for the final margin.
Nick led Head-Royce with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-4 at the line. He added seven rebounds (four offensive), three assists and six steals. Tua scored 14 points and made 4 of 7 from 3-point range to go with three assists. Jack added 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep and grabbed six rebounds. Idan had four points, two assists, two steals and two blocks, and Sanjay finished with three points, two assists and two steals.
The two teams shot almost the same from the field: Head-Royce made 35.1 percent and Hayward High made 35.3 percent. The difference came from the 3-point line and the turnover battle. The Jayhawks made 8 of 25 from 3-point range, while Hayward High made 3 of 17. Head-Royce had 14 steals and a 12-3 edge in assists. Hayward High won the boards 32-26, had 10 second-chance points to 7 for the Jayhawks and made 10 of 11 free throws, but that was not enough to make up for its turnovers.
With the win, Head-Royce improved to 9-5 on the summer.