OAKLAND, Calif. The Head-Royce boys junior varsity forced 26 turnovers and scored 19 points off them to beat Bentley JV 66-57 on Saturday and improve to 9-4. John Wheeler led the defense with nine steals.
Bentley's only lead came at 2-1, after Clayton Sonne opened the scoring with a free throw. The Jayhawks answered with a 9-0 run. Wheeler scored a basket, Sonne added a basket off a turnover and a 3-pointer on an assist from Makaio Popp, and Wheeler made two free throws for a 10-2 lead. Owen Sunwoo then hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the second off a turnover, to push the margin to 16-5.
Bentley got back in the game with second-chance points and pulled within 25-23. Head-Royce responded with an 8-0 run. Sunwoo hit a 3-pointer off a turnover, Wheeler scored off another turnover and Wheeler added a 3-pointer from Popp to make it 33-23. Bentley kept pressing, and a 3-pointer followed by a second-chance basket cut the deficit to 46-45.
That was as close as Bentley got. Jayan Shah scored on a Sunwoo assist, Sunwoo scored on a pass from Adagio Williams, and Williams made a second-chance 3-pointer set up by Kian Patel, completing a 7-0 run for a 53-45 lead. After a Bentley basket, Popp took over. His 3-pointer off a pass from Azaan Zaka started an 8-0 run, Shah scored on a Wheeler assist, and Popp added a basket and a free throw for a 61-47 edge. Popp's 3-pointer and a basket off a turnover then produced Head-Royce's largest lead, 66-50. He scored 11 of the Jayhawks' final 13 points. Bentley closed the game with seven straight second-chance points.
Sunwoo led Head-Royce with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, and added four rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block. Wheeler finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and his nine steals. Popp scored 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and made both of his 3-point attempts. Sonne also had 11 points and a team-high five assists, and he scored 11 of the Jayhawks' first 21 points. Williams added five points and five rebounds off the bench.
The turnover battle decided the game. Head-Royce had 14 steals and a 19-10 edge in points off turnovers. The Jayhawks also moved the ball well, with 17 assists to Bentley's four, and made 12 of 15 free throws while Bentley made 3 of 11. Head-Royce shot 40 percent (22-of-55) and made 10 of 26 3-pointers, while Bentley shot 42.1 percent. Bentley won the rebounding battle 41-27, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds, and outscored the Jayhawks 19-6 in second-chance points. The Head-Royce bench scored seven points.
With the win, Head-Royce is 9-4 this season.