OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce opened its 2025-26 season with a 70-55 loss to Piedmont on Saturday and fell to 0-1. Piedmont shot 55 percent from the field and scored the game's first 10 points, and the Jayhawks never led.
Piedmont scored five straight baskets to start the game, two of them on second chances, before Jack Peay put Head-Royce on the board to make it 10-2. The visitors answered with an 8-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer, for an 18-2 lead. After two Piedmont baskets, the margin reached its high of 19 points at 24-5.
Head-Royce started to chip away. Tucker Peay hit a 3-pointer off a turnover, assisted by Ezra Goldfarb, then made three straight free throws to cut the deficit to 24-11. Later, Tua Montoya set up a Jack Peay 3-pointer and a Tucker Peay basket, and Montoya made two free throws in between, which brought the Jayhawks within 32-22. Nick Taubes hit a 3-pointer off a turnover, and Tucker Peay followed with another 3-pointer to make it 41-30.
Piedmont pushed the lead back to 57-40, and Head-Royce answered with an 8-0 run. Sam Gulaid scored inside, Taubes hit a 3-pointer off a turnover on a feed from Jack Peay, and Montoya knocked down a second-chance 3-pointer, assisted by Idan Benharush, to make it 57-48. That was as close as the Jayhawks got after the opening minutes. Piedmont scored four straight baskets for an 8-0 run of its own and a 65-48 lead. Benharush hit a 3-pointer and Tucker Peay made two free throws late, and Montoya closed the scoring with a free throw.
Tucker Peay, a freshman, led Head-Royce with 18 points on 4-of-13 shooting. He made 3 of 6 from 3-point range and 7 of 9 at the free-throw line, and he added six rebounds. Montoya, also a freshman, scored 10 points and had a team-high four assists. Jack Peay had seven points, 11 rebounds (five offensive), three assists and two steals. Taubes made 2 of 4 from deep for eight points, and Benharush added five points and six rebounds. Goldfarb had three points and three assists off the bench.
Head-Royce shot 30.4 percent (17 of 56) from the field and 9 of 27 from 3-point range. Piedmont made 31 of its 56 attempts and assisted on 17 of those baskets. The visitors also won the rebounding battle 33-27 and blocked four shots. The Jayhawks made the most of their trips to the line, going 12 of 18 while Piedmont went 2 of 6, and they held an 11-6 edge in points off turnovers. Head-Royce grabbed 10 offensive rebounds but turned them into only five second-chance points. The Head-Royce bench scored seven points.
Head-Royce (0-1) returns to action when it hosts College Prep on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.