OAKLAND, Calif. Urban turned a two-point deficit into a double-digit lead with a 13-0 run and never looked back, beating Head-Royce 56-33 on Saturday. The Jayhawks (6-5) committed 15 turnovers, and Urban turned them into 11 points while shooting 50 percent from the floor.
The opening stretch went back and forth. Idan Benharush opened the scoring with a 3-pointer on a feed from Jack Peay, and the teams traded the lead from there, with nine lead changes and three ties in the game. Nick Taubes carried the early offense, scoring nine of Head-Royce's first 16 points. His free throw put the Jayhawks up 16-13, their largest lead of the day.
Urban answered with consecutive baskets to go ahead 17-16 before Tua Montoya hit a 3-pointer, assisted by Benharush, to give Head-Royce a 19-17 edge. That was the Jayhawks' last lead. Urban scored the next 13 points, including three 3-pointers, one of them off a turnover, to build a 30-19 advantage. Benharush ended the run with a basket, but Urban followed with six straight points to push the margin to 36-21.
Head-Royce could not string together stops and scores. Jack Peay scored off a turnover and Sam Gulaid added a basket, but Urban answered each time, and another 6-0 burst made it 45-25. After Taubes scored off a turnover, Urban hit a two and a 3-pointer to reach 50-27, its largest lead at 23 points. Tucker Peay gave the Jayhawks a late spark with a free throw and a 3-pointer set up by Taubes, and Loryan Boyette-Tindall scored Head-Royce's final basket before Urban closed the scoring.
Taubes led Head-Royce with 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting and added five rebounds and a blocked shot. Tucker Peay grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, four on the offensive glass, and scored six points. Benharush had seven points on 3-of-6 shooting with two assists and no turnovers, and Montoya handed out a team-high three assists.
The shooting numbers explained the margin. Head-Royce made 14 of 43 shots from the field (32.6 percent) and 3 of 17 from 3-point range, while Urban shot 21 of 42 (50 percent) and 7 of 14 from beyond the arc. The Jayhawks won the rebounding battle 24-23 and grabbed eight offensive rebounds, but turned them into only two second-chance points, compared with seven for Urban. Urban finished with six steals and 11 assists and held an 11-4 edge in points off turnovers. The Head-Royce bench scored four points.
Head-Royce fell to 6-5 and will host College Prep on Friday, Jan. 16.