Royal ladies fall twice, but improve their game

ROYAL CITY - The Royal High girls fell twice in SCAC basketball last weekend, but they grew by leaps and bounds against two of the league's better teams.

The improvement started Friday in the second half of a 61-42 loss to Warden. The Knights lost the third quarter only 18-17 and the fourth quarter only 13-10.

The next night the Knights started with a 6-6 first period in a 47-38 loss against undefeated first-place Kiona-Benton. They finished with an 18-18 fourth quarter.

"We let Warden get too many second chance baskets," coach Phil Daubel said.

In the third quarter, Royal cut the lead to eight points with 1:30 left, but then the Knights turned the ball over on four straight possessions.

"We just didn't execute and play a full 32 minutes," Daubel said.

But the next night against a very good Ki-Be, Daubel's girls played what could be called their first full game. They were not out of the game until late.

"We really battled the undefeated first place team," Daubel said. "We were right there to take this game. Flor Araujo got into foul trouble in the first minute of the game, and Becca Lee and Kailee Harris really stepped up and gave us some good minutes."

Araujo, who is surely headed to all-league recognition, led the team for the weekend. She scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds against Kiona-Benton. Against Warden, she scored 17 points and picked off five steals.

Against Warden, Kailee Harris scored 11 points, Dory Floren grabbed six rebounds, Jacky Guadarrama picked off five, and Brittany Hebdon and Kayla Smith had four each.

Against Ki-Be, Hebdon scored 10 points and corralled seven rebounds. Floren, Harris and Guadarrama had five rebounds each, and Becca Lee and Smith had four each.