Royal boys capture 3-of-4 in high school basketball
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Royal’s Corbin Christensen starts to drive the ball up the court late in the second half against Wahluke. The Knights did not put up a shot before time ran out.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Royal’s Kaden Jenks starts the scoring against Othello with a hard-charging lay-in.
ROYAL CITY — Except for a hiccup at Wahluke Friday night, the Royal High boys enjoyed a successful 4-game streak in basketball last week and this week, winning three contests.
The Knights started last week with a running, gunning 81-68 non-league victory at Othello. They capped the week with a 67-56 romp over Connell in SCAC East action. And they started this week with a Monday win over College Place, 80-46
The hiccup was a 66-37 loss to Wahluke on a Friday night, a night when the Warriors were rising to the top of the SCAC East.
In addition to enjoying a win, the large Royal following at Othello on Tuesday was entertained by the run-and-gun nature of both teams. Behind hot shooting by Kaden Jenks, the Knights charged to a 7-0 lead. Othello came back to take the lead at 14-13, and the quarter closed at 18-18.
The teams traded several rallies the rest of the way, and Royal prevailed with an 18-13 fourth quarter.
The Knights were led by Kaden Jenks’s 27 points. He scored eight in the first and third periods. The next leading scorer was Owen Ellis with 17 points. Corbin Christensen and Isaac Ellis scored nine points each, and Gage Christensen added eight.
Friday, the Knights showed up at Wahluke looking for an upset of the second-place Warriors, and they played that way in the first half. Their defense kept the Warriors off their usual frenetic pace and held league scoring star Sergio Pineda to eight points.
But the second half was completely different. The Wahluke defense stifled the Knights, and the Warriors ran away to the victory.
The Knights were led by the 19 points of Corbin Christensen. Owen and Isaac Ellis added eight and six points respectively.
It was a tough loss for the Knights, but they bounced back Saturday night against Connell to dampen the Eagles’ district tournament hopes.
There was a slow Royal start against Connell. The Eagles took a 22-12 first period lead.
But a 16-4 second period gave the Knights the lead at halftime, 28-26. Then Royal exploded for a 27-3 third period and put the victory away.
Three Knights scored in double figures. Owen Ellis led with 25 points, Corbin Christensen scored 18, and Kaden Jenks produced 15.
Eleven Knights scored in Monday night’s win over College place. They led 61-23 after three periods even though coach Pete Christensen gave his bench ample playing time.
Royal was led by Corbin Christensen with 16 points. Isaac and Owen Ellis scored 14 each, and Kaden Jenks added nine. Jenks picked off seven rebounds, and Corbin Christensen got five.
Royal is concluding its season with three more games this week. The Knights played College Place again last night, too late for Sun Tribune press time. They will host Kiona-Benton on Friday and travel to Naches Saturday for a non-league contest.