OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce shot 50 percent from the field and made nine 3-pointers to beat Piedmont 57-48 on Wednesday. The Jayhawks improved to 11-5 this summer and beat Piedmont for the second time in nine days, following a 54-46 home win on June 15.
Piedmont had the early edge. Jack Peay opened the scoring on a feed from Nick Taubes, and Sanjay Ernst's basket made it 4-2, but the visitors answered with a 7-0 run to lead 9-4, their biggest lead of the game. Head-Royce then scored 10 straight points. Taubes scored, junior guard Alex Jones tied the game at 9-9 with a 3-pointer off a Taubes assist, and Taubes hit a 3-pointer on a pass from Jack Peay to put the Jayhawks ahead 12-9. Tucker Peay finished the run with a basket, and Head-Royce never trailed again.
Tucker Peay kept going off the bench with a free throw, a second-chance basket and two more free throws for a 19-14 lead. Junior guard Owen Sunwoo hit a 3-pointer set up by Loryan Boyette-Tindall, and Taubes added a basket to make it 24-15. Piedmont cut the lead to 24-20 with a 3-pointer off a turnover, but Tucker Peay answered with a second-chance 3-pointer on a pass from Jack Peay, and Boyette-Tindall scored off a turnover to make it 29-20. Tucker Peay scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half as Head-Royce led 30-23 at halftime.
Jack Peay opened the second half with a 3-pointer assisted by Ernst, and Ernst followed with a second-chance basket for a 35-24 lead. Taubes then scored the Jayhawks' next seven points, including a 3-pointer on a pass from Tucker Peay, to make it 42-28. Jack Peay scored six straight points on a second-chance basket, a 3-pointer and a free throw for a 48-33 lead. Piedmont outscored Head-Royce 8-2 to get within 50-41, but Jones made back-to-back 3-pointers, the first assisted by Tucker Peay, and the Jayhawks led 56-41, their biggest lead of the game. Piedmont closed on a 7-1 run but got no closer than nine.
Taubes led Head-Royce with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, and had a team-high four assists without a turnover. Tucker Peay scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and made 4 of 6 free throws. Jack Peay had 12 points, 11 rebounds (three offensive) and three assists and made 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. Jones scored nine points, all on 3-pointers. Ernst made both of his shots for four points and grabbed four rebounds, and Boyette-Tindall had two points, two assists and two steals.
Head-Royce went 21 of 42 from the field and 9 of 22 from 3-point range, while Piedmont shot 16 of 42 (38 percent) and 7 of 21 from deep. The Jayhawks outrebounded Piedmont 29-18 and outscored the visitors 9-4 on second-chance points. Head-Royce's bench scored 16 points. Each team had seven turnovers, but Piedmont scored eight points off turnovers and Head-Royce scored two.
Head-Royce is 11-5 and 2-0 against Piedmont this summer.