Royal girls topple Wahluke in hoops

Kayla Smith of the Royal Knights puts up a short jumper over Wahluke defenders.

Flor Araujo, 3, of Royal High School fires a jump pass to teammate Kayla Smith, 32, during Saturday night's 51-21 victory over Wahluke in SCAC East girls basketball.

by Royal Register Editor & Ted Escobar
| December 30, 2013 5:05 AM

Flor Araujo, 3, of Royal High School fires a jump pass to teammate Kayla Smith, 32, during Saturday night's 51-21 victory over Wahluke in SCAC East girls basketball.

ROYAL CITY - Kayla Smith and Kailee Harris had big nights Saturday to lead the Royal Knights to their first high school girls basketball win of the year over Wahluke, 51-21.

Smith scored 11 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for a double-double. Harris was hot from the floor, making five of her nine field goal attempts for 10 points, and she completed a double-double with 11 rebounds.

"Kailee Harris really stepped up tonight and gave of some good minutes," coach Phil Daubel said.

A big factor in the outcome was ball handling. Royal gave the ball away only nine times and stole it 18 times.

"We really played well tonight. Our defensive intensity was at an all time high," Daubel said. "We really dictated the tempo of the game. I am extremely proud of the girls' effort tonight."

Also scoring for Royal were Brittany Hebdon with 12 points, Flor Araujo 8, Jacky Guadarrama 4, Jennifer Ledezma 4, and Dory Floren 2.

In the 55-33 loss to River View, the second period was a problem again. The Knights were outscored, 20-8, after an 11-8 first quarter.

"We play well for stretches, but we can't sustain it for 32 minutes," Daubel said.

One Knight who did not struggle was Araujo. She made five of 12 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws for 17 points. She also executed four steals.

"Flor found her groove from the outside tonight, which kept us in the game," Daubel said.

Second in scoring for the Knights, with six points each, were Kayla Smith and Brittany Hebdon. Hebdon led the rebounders with seven caroms.