OAKLAND, Calif. The Head-Royce boys junior varsity basketball team used a 20-0 run to pull away from College Prep JV for a 57-31 win Friday, Jan. 16, at home. The Jayhawks improved to 7-3 as sophomore-free bench scoring and a pressure defense turned a close game into a rout.
Head-Royce scored the first six points of the game. Kian Patel hit a 3-pointer on an assist from Owen Sunwoo, and Clayton Sonne added a basket off a turnover and a free throw to make it 6-0. College Prep answered with a 10-0 run to go ahead 10-6, and it pushed its lead to 14-9, its largest of the night at five points. Jayan Shah hit a 3-pointer off a turnover, and Azaan Zaka tied the game at 14. The teams were tied again at 16 before Shah scored off a turnover and Sonne finished a Sunwoo assist, a 6-0 spurt that made it 20-16. College Prep hit a 3-pointer and a free throw to tie the game at 20, the fourth and last tie of the night.
Sunwoo gave Head-Royce the lead for good with a 3-pointer set up by Adagio Williams, and John Wheeler added a basket off a turnover and a free throw for a 26-20 edge. After a College Prep free throw made it 26-21, the Jayhawks scored the next 20 points. Wheeler started the run on a Patrick Zhang assist, and Shah followed with two baskets and a free throw. Zaka scored off a turnover, Shah hit a 3-pointer from Sunwoo, and Sunwoo scored on a Shah assist. Wheeler buried a second-chance 3-pointer, and Sunwoo capped the run with a 3-pointer off a turnover, assisted by Zhang, for a 46-21 lead.
College Prep never got closer than 23 points after that. Zaka and Patel each hit a 3-pointer on assists from Makaio Popp, and Shah added a basket and a free throw. Zaka scored off a turnover on a feed from Sonne to make it 57-29, Head-Royce's biggest lead at 28, before College Prep scored the final basket.
Shah led all Head-Royce scorers with 19 points off the bench. He shot 7 of 11 from the field, 3 of 5 from 3-point range and 2 of 2 at the line. Zaka added 9 points and two steals. Sunwoo was perfect on the night, making all three of his shots, including two 3-pointers, for 8 points to go with four assists. Patel had 8 points, a team-high seven rebounds and a block, and Wheeler added 8 points and five rebounds off the bench. Sonne scored 5 points with three steals, and Williams had five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
The defense made the difference. Head-Royce forced 24 turnovers, recorded 15 steals and outscored College Prep 16-7 in points off turnovers. College Prep shot 13 of 45 (28.9 percent) from the field and 1 of 19 from 3-point range. The Jayhawks shot 22 of 53 (41.5 percent), made 9 of 24 from long range and won the rebounding battle 30-24. The Head-Royce bench outscored College Prep by itself, 32-31, and the team spread 15 assists among seven players.
With the win, Head-Royce is 7-3 on the season.