Knights suffer first loss

ROYAL CITY — Royal suffered its first loss of the 2024-25 season on Friday night, falling 88-82 in overtime on the road against Zillah after allowing 45 first-half points to the Leopards in the game.

“We were plenty hyped and excited — Zillah, at Zillah, is really the standard to see how good you are, at least on this side of the state,” head coach Greg Jenks said. “Lots of excitement, I thought we had good practices leading up to it and then fundamentally we did not do well with the fundamentals of defense and the fundamentals of rebounding.” 

Both sides came out firing on the offensive end, with Zillah holding a 31-25 advantage at the end of the first quarter, with Royal sophomore Manny Ruvalcaba scoring 10 of the 25 Knight points. While the offensive firepower cooled down in the second frame, the Leopards took a 45-37 lead into the halftime locker room.  

“We felt fine at halftime, as far as being in the game and having a chance to win,” Jenks said. “We knew if we sured up our defense and rebounding, that we’d be able to come back. Our defense got better, and it went into overtime, but eventually, the lack of rebounding got to us.” 

Despite the deficit, Royal continued to cut into the Leopard lead through the third and early fourth quarters, eventually taking a three-point lead late in the ballgame – however, the lead was short-lived, as the Leopards connected on a game-tying three-pointer just before the end of regulation. 

“We were up three, and we didn’t get a defensive rebound,” Jenks said. “It gave them a second shot, and they were able to tie it with their offensive rebound.” 

Royal was outscored 10-2 in overtime, as the Leopards held on for the eight-point win over the Knights. 

“While the energy was good, we didn’t have the fundamentals. For some reason, they weren’t there,” Jenks said. “We made some changes, and in the fourth quarter they scored 10 (points). We got back to the fundamentals, but it was already too late.” 

Ruvalcaba led Royal with 23 points against Zillah, followed by sophomore Grant Wardenaar’s 22 points. Seniors Jackson Larsen, Trent Jensen and Lance Allred all finished the game with six points. 

Friday’s loss to Zillah wasn’t Royal’s only game over the weekend; less than 24 hours after falling to the Leopards, Royal welcomed 13-1 Chelan to its home floor. 

The quick turnaround between games is something the Knights choose not to focus on, Jenks said.  

“I just want the boys to focus on being ready regardless of the situation – not making any excuses,” Jenks said. “... They came ready to play, held Chelan to 35 points. That’s impressive.” 

After giving up 45 first-half points to Zillah on Friday, Royal turned in a strong defensive performance against the visiting Mountain Goats on Saturday, holding Chelan to 19 points in the first half before cruising to a 68-35 win. 

Three Knights finished the game in double figures; Wardenaar led the way with 11 points, while Jensen and sophomore Fischer Livingston both ended the game with 10 points. Senior Santana Luna narrowly missed double digits, scoring nine points in the win.  

“We had some good ball sharing; Grant (Wardenaar) and Trent (Jensen) had some great pick-and-rolls that made it really tough for Chelan to defend, and they had to make some adjustments because of the success of the pick-and-roll,” Jenks said. “After not putting in a full defensive game the night before, the boys were focused to make sure that we played four quarters of defense on Saturday.” 

Jenks said the focus in practice ahead of Royal’s next game will be what plagued them in the loss to the Leopards – rebounding. 

“We did better against Chelan, but still, it was only a two-rebound difference between us and Chelan,” he said. “(Against) Zillah, it was 17. They outrebounded us by 17 rebounds.” 

Royal (13-1) hosts Connell Friday at 7:15 p.m. It’s the start of a two-week stretch where Royal plays seven games to close out the regular season.  

“I look for little windows where I can give them (time) off here, (time) off there,” Jenks said.  

Box scores 

at Zillah 

RYL: 25-12-21-18-2 78 

ZIL: 31-14-21-10-10 86 

vs Chelan 

CHE: 10-9-8-8 35 

RYL: 17-19-8-24 68 

    Royal sophomore Grant Wardenaar (24) lays the ball in for a basket against Riverside on Jan. 3. Wardenaar scored 22 points against Zillah on Friday and led the Knights with 11 points in Saturday’s win over Chelan.
  

    Royal senior Jackson Larsen, in white, attempts a free throw during a Jan. 3 game against Riverside.