Royals girls defeat Warden in basketball

ROYAL CITY - The Royal High girls battled to a 34-33 basketball victory over Warden on Tuesday last week, but things were tougher after that. Highland stopped the Knights, 46-23, and Chelan did it, 56-30.

After four non-league games, the Knights stand at 1-3.

For a while, it appeared the Knights would run away from the Cougars and led 21-16 at the half. But Warden rallied to an 11-4 third period.

The Knights regained momentum in the fourth quarter to eke out the win. They made the needed plays down the stretch.

"We really gutted out a big win for us," coach Phil Daubel said. "We fought through foul trouble and poor shooting."

According to Daubel, Kailee Harris played well in the post, and Jacky Guadarrama did a great job on defense.

"We were able to hold their best player to only two points, and that was a total team effort on defense," Daubel.

Harris scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds. The rebounds leader, with nine, was Staci Hebdon. She added three assists.

Flor Araujo contributed eight points, and Sophia Rodriguez scored six. Jennifer Ledezma and Jacky Guadarrama scored eight and five points. Guadarrama had three assists, and Ledezma and Araujo had three steals each.

The Knights didn't come out ready to play on Friday. They let Highland dictate the tempo.

"We really shot horribly (21 percent) and something like 18 percent from the line and had 31 turnovers," Daubel said. "Not going to win many games with that stat line. We have to execute better and be ready to play from the opening tip and for all 32 minutes."

Still, Royal got within eight points early in the fourth quarter. Hebdon, Guadarrama and Araujo led the Knights with six points each. Guadalupe Guadarrama grabbed 10 rebounds, Savanna Buster had seven, and Hebdon and Ledezma had six each. Jacky Guadarrama had four assists and four steals.

The Knights were ready on Saturday against a known basketball power. They trailed only 21-18 at the half and 33-24 after three periods.

"We played a team with a great basketball tradition tough for three quarters," Daubel said. "I was really proud of the girls' effort and the way they competed."

"Winning isn't easy, and the girls are learning that and learning how to get over that hump," Daubel added.

The Knights suffered from the same shooting woes of last year. They only shot 25 percent from the field and 4-for-15 from the line.

"We are making progress but need to continue to get better every day," Daubel said.

Araujo led the scoring with 11 points, including two 3-point shots. Rodriguez added six points.

Jacky Guadarrama led in rebounds with five and assists with four. Rodriguez and Ledezma had four rebounds, and Araujo had five steals. Buster had three assists.