Royal boys take two in hoops

ROYAL CITY - "It was a good week," coach Pete Christensen said.

Indeed it was. His Royal Knights won two boys basketball games.

Royal beat Cle Elum, 70-59, on Tuesday and River View, 53-51, on Saturday.

Royal came out hot on Tuesday. The score was 15-0 before Cle Elum joined the fray.

"We had a lot of scoring from several people," Christensen said. "It was a fun week to coach. The guys passed the ball well to the open person and played very unselfish ball."

This week will be a big test. The Knights will play league favorite Burbank tonight and Kiona-Benton on Friday.

"They are settled into the top two spots on our division," Christensen said. "It is now up to us to prepare and perform like they are capable of."

On Saturday, Royal will start the second half of the SCAC season at Wahluke.

Royal put River View away with a 16-11 fourth quarter. It was a team effort of eight scoring players. Jonathan Partida led with nine points. Riley Lefler, Kaden Jenks and Chase Christensen added eight points each.

Partida and Lefler made five assists each. Teddy Mead pulled down five rebounds, and Lefler had two steals.

There was a team-like effort against Cle Elum but, this time, four Knights finished in double figures. Aaron Johnson scored 15 points, Jenks scored 14, Lefler scored 12 and Christensen scored 11.

Johnson sank four or five 3-point attempts. Jenks made two of two. Christensen had 11 rebounds, and Christensen and Lefler made five assists.