Royal boys trample Naches, fall to Connell in hoops

Two Naches defenders try to impede Royal's Chase Christensen's progress as he drives the baseline toward the hoop.

by Ted Escobar & Royal Register Editor
| January 31, 2015 5:00 AM

ROYAL CITY - The Royal boys split two prep basketball games last week, topping Naches, 57-36, and falling to Connell, 50-40.

While the loss hurt in the SCAC East standings, it was not debilitating. At 4-3 (10-6 overall), the Knights remain solid in the race for district. The key will be this weekend.

River View will visit Royal on Friday. Burbank will host Royal on Saturday. The Knights have beaten both teams.

"We are having a fairly balanced scoring attack at this time and look to improve on that as the regular season winds down," coach Pete Christensen said.

Tonight the Knights will travel to Othello for their final non-league contest.

The win over Naches brought the Royal boys to 10-5 for the year. The Knights started hot, taking the first quarter, 19-9. They added to the lead in the second, third and fourth periods.

"It was a fun, fast-paced game," Christensen said. "The guys are looking really good right now. They are playing as a team right now, and it is exciting to watch."

Ten of the Knights were involved in the scoring. They were led by the 15 point of Chase Christensen and 10 each by Kaden Jenks and Aaron Johnson. The team had 46 percent shooting from 2-point range.

Chase Christensen led the rebounding with eight caroms. Riley Lefler had seven rebounds, and Jenks and Teddy Mead had five each. Lefler had four assists, and Johnson had three steals.

On Saturday the Knights were reminded they still have work to do to get to the district tournament and beyond. The Eagles brought a stifling defense that kept Royal shooting at 23 percent from the field and 29 percent from 2-point range.

"I don't know what it is about playing Connell, but we seem to struggle on those days," coach Christensen said. "We didn't get started very well and struggled throughout the game. Our shooting was down about 15 percent from our season average."

"We are still in the race for the league title but must get things going in the right direction and keep them there for the rest of the year," coach Christensen added.

The Knights will close the SCAC campaign at home on Feb. 6 against Kiona-Benton.

Aaron Johnson led Royal scoring with 13 points, and no other Knight scored in double figures. Teddy Mead pulled down nine rebounds, and Chase Christensen had seven.

Lefler and Chase Christensen made three assists each, and Chase Christensen made two steals.