Royal falls twice at districts

ROYAL CITY - Royal's first visit to the SCAC District Basketball Tournament was brief. Top-ranked Zillah crushed Royal 75-37, and then Naches imposed its will on the reeling Knights, 59-48.

"This was a disappointing week for the team, the coaches, and the community," coach Pete Christensen said. "We have had a very satisfying season with several highs and a few too many lows."

No one thought the Knights could stay with the No. 1 Leopards but, for a quarter there was hope. Royal trailed only 14-10 and at one point led 10-9.

Then the second quarter happened. Zillah's fleet-footed, quick-handed athletes started taking the ball away. They won the period, 21-3, with Royal scoring on a Jonathan Partida 3-pointer 20 seconds before the half.

"We worked every day to try to prepare the guys for the pressure that Zillah would apply," coach Christensen said. "That was the main struggle we had with their defense. We had too many turnovers and too many hurried shots. Zillah is a solid team, and we knew we would have to play a flawless game to compete with them."

Zillah put the game away with a 23-14 third quarter.

The Leopards had three players in double figures, Royal had one. That was Chase Christensen, who came up with 10 points.

The game that really disappointed coach Christensen was the contest with Naches to stay in the tournament. Naches pounced on the Knights in the first quarter, 17-9 and kept Royal at bay the rest of the way.

"Naches is a game we should have won," coach Christensen said. "We matched up well with them, but we started the game off too slow and we never were able to get our game going well enough to cover the hole we started in."

Chase Christensen was the scoring leader again with 16 points. Kaden Jenks had nine, and Teddy Mead added eight.

Even though the Knights fell short on their playoff goals, Christensen hopes the players and community realize the accomplishments the team enjoyed. The Knights finished with a 13-9 record.

"This is a great place to build from, and there is a lot of effort within the community to get our younger kids exposed to the game, and that is where the bigger part of our future success will stem from," coach Christensen said.

"This has been a fun group of young men to work with," coach added. "It is sad to have so many of them leaving us as they move on to the next stages of their lives, but I'm excited for them."