Late free throws seal 49-47 win for Royal over Quincy

ROYAL CITY — After being fouled while attempting a three-pointer with just seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Royal senior Caden Allred stepped up to the free throw line with the Knights tied at 47 to Quincy. 

After missing his first attempt, Allred connected on his last two free throws to give the Knights a 49-47 lead, later winning the game after Quincy’s Hail Mary shot bounced off the roof of the gymnasium.

“I knew I had three chances — if I had hit all three we would have gone to overtime if they would have hit the shot,” Allred said. “I just dialed it in; a little long on the first one, but luckily, the next two dropped.”

Quincy and Royal entered the fourth quarter with a 40-38 lead in favor of the Jackrabbits, though both teams could only muster up one basket through the first four minutes and 59 seconds of the final frame. That changed when Royal junior Lance Allred connected on a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 42-41, with junior Cameron Blair later tying the game at 44. Junior Ezra Jenks gave Royal a 47-44 lead with a three-pointer of his own with under two minutes left on the clock.

“It was a really scrappy play, a bunch of tips on the ball,” Jenks said. “I got the ball, saw it was open so I shot it. We all weren’t shooting that well, and it went in — that felt pretty good.”

Royal struggled early in the game with three-point shooting but found their stride from the second quarter on — especially late in the fourth quarter. 

“If we keep shooting, it will fall,” Greg Jenks said. “The threes in the fourth quarter – Cameron (Blair), Lance (Allred), Ezra (Jenks) — they all had bad shooting nights, but they knocked them down in the fourth quarter. Instead of passing them up, they knocked them down.”

While it wasn’t the most efficient three-point shooting night for Royal, finding open looks allowed the Knights to get back into the game after going scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.

“Once we got in the paint, we were able to kick out,” Caden Allred said. “We had some guys hit some big shots, we rebounded pretty well. I think we just wanted it more, and that’s what got it done.”

Quincy rode its 13-11 lead after the first quarter into the second frame Saturday evening, eventually holding a 21-16 lead with under a minute before halftime. Royal junior Jackson Larsen connected on three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cut Quincy’s lead to one before halftime.

“(Larsen) put in work in the off-season specifically to hit the corner three,” Royal head coach Greg Jenks said. “For him to do that — and he’s been doing it all season long, he normally gets one or two — it lifted the team, but for him individually, it’s really rewarding to see that work pay off.”

Saturday’s win came less than 24 hours after the Knights traveled to Mattawa for a rivalry matchup against Wahluke, where Royal won 75-58 thanks to double-digit points by Caden Allred (15), Lance Allred (13) and senior Bennett Brown (12). 

Greg Jenks said coming off a big win the night prior had an effect on the start to Saturday’s game against Quincy.

“It felt like a little bit of an emotional drain from (Friday),” Greg Jenks said. “But these boys battled.”

Friday’s loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Jackrabbits, whose last loss came to Columbia (Burbank) on Dec. 28. Four of Quincy’s five losses have come in non-league contests.

“We just haven’t progressed how I’ve wanted us to,” Bierlink said. “When you get in a close game like that you’ve got to be able to get stops and be able to run something on offense to get what you want to get. We just haven’t been able to figure out how to do that.”

Ezra Jenks led the Knights with nine points, followed by Caden Allred and Lance Allred with eight points and Larsen with seven points. Quincy sophomore Pierce Bierlink led all scorers with 14 points, followed by senior Julian Ibarra with 13 points and senior Aidan Bews with 10 points. 

Both teams return to league play Tuesday, with the Jacks hosting Cascade (Leavenworth) at 7:15 p.m. and Royal hosting College Place at 7:30 p.m. 

“We want to be playing our best ball down the stretch, and we certainly aren’t doing that,” Bierlink said. 

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score:

ROY: 11-11-16-11 49
QCY: 13-10-17-7 47

    Quincy sophomore Pierce Bierlink, in green, attempts a layup in the second quarter against Royal on Saturday. Bierlink led all scorers with 14 points.
  

    Royal freshman Grant Wardenaar, in white, defends Quincy senior Ethan Gregg, in green, in the second half of Saturday’s game.
  

    Quincy senior Julian Ibarra (24) passes the ball in the first half against Royal.