Knights take down Warriors in district first round

ROYAL CITY — The Royal Knights claimed an 89-54 home victory over the Wahluke Warriors in the first round of the District 5 1A basketball tournament. Knights junior Grant Wardenaar made history during the game as he claimed the title of all-time scorer for Royal High School. 

“It feels pretty cool,” said Wardenaar. “When you come into high school, you really dream about it, but it was cool to accomplish it.” 

He only needed 12 points to earn the title, which finally came in the middle of the second quarter after Wahluke’s defense broke up Royal junior Major Andra’s push toward the net. Andra made a last second pass to Wardenaar, who marched up to the net to make a quick layup to get him the final points needed to become the all-time scorer and finished the game at a total of 1542 points.  

“I knew I was 12 points away, but I wasn’t going to try and score too much and just played my normal game,” he said.  

The team called a full-time out soon after to honor Wardenaar’s achievement and handed him a basketball commemorating the moment in a glass case in the middle of the court. 

Knights head coach Tim Ravet said he was proud of Wardenaar for earning the scoring record, as it highlights all the hard work he has put into his athletic career with the Knights. Another thing that stuck out to the coach was that Wardenaar’s focus wasn’t on getting that milestone but instead passed the ball to open teammates. 

“He was moving the ball and not really even going after points, making his teammates better and then the game just kind of came to him,” said Ravet. “It's more fun to play with guys that are involving more people and Grant definitely has the ability to get his, but he can see the floor and create (opportunities) for other people, make everybody else better and I think everybody’s starting to buy into that.” 

After reaching this achievement in his junior year, Wardenaar said he knows he can continue to add onto that total and wants to hit 2500 points by the end of his senior season. His greatest motivation for reaching these milestones is through his coach and teammates. 

“I wouldn’t be in the spot I am without my great teammates,” said Wardenaar. 

The Knights started off strong in the first quarter, taking a 23-15 lead over the Warriors by the end of the quarter. Wahluke stayed strong in the second quarter as they put up another 15 points, but Royal stayed ahead to lead 48-30 at the half. 

Royal found more momentum returning from halftime as they remained ahead of Wahluke. By the fourth quarter, the Knights had secured a significant lead over the opposition, and though the Warriors fought hard, the Knights had gained too much momentum to be overturned and won the game 89-54. 

“I thought we played hard and moved the ball pretty well,” said Ravet. 

Wardenaar led the Knights on offense with 26 points, followed close behind by Graham Palmer with 23 points. Kobe Corrales led the Warriors with 18 points scored and was followed by Keaton Zirker, who scored 11 points. 

Coming out of Tuesday’s matchup, Ravet said that it was a good lesson for the Knights to keep working on moving their feet and keeping the opposition in front of them on defense.  

“People like to isolate us, and we’ve got to just play solid, sound defense,” he said. 

With the Knights getting ready to play the No. 3-seeded Chelan, the Royal coach said it would be important for the team to push themselves to play their hardest moving forward. 

“Everybody’s going to play harder because you’re getting close and that excitement, enthusiasm, passion, all that stuff has to come through,” said Ravet. “You have to turn it up a lot more that what you do in the regular season.” 

Warriors head coach Anfernee Cortez said they knew Royal would be a tough matchup as the team struggled to stay in the game defensively, especially in transition. After dealing with a fast and physical team like Royal, he wants the team to try and reach that higher tempo of play as they prepare for their next matchup. 

“Just little things for us, boxing out and rebounding. That’s going to keep you in the game,” said Cortez. “For the most part, we did fine, other than the transition stuff, but taking that into the next game and (for us) trying to keep that kind of style and go into that next game.” 

In preparation for the next matchup, the Warriors are going to put a focus on making free throws and improving their defensive execution as they head into the second round of districts. 

As the Knights push deeper into the postseason, Wardenaar said he feels the team is ready to take on Chelan as they remain at home for the next round in the district tournament. 

“I think we’re starting to click as a group and just play fundamental basketball,” he said. 

The second round of the district tournament takes place Friday at 6 p.m., where the Knights host Chelan and the Warriors go on the road to face Wapato. 

BOX SCORE:  

WHLK: 15-15-12-12: 54
ROYL: 23-25-22-19: 89 

    Jose Acevedo, a junior for the Warriors, looks for an opening to get past Manny Ruvalcaba, a junior for the Knights.
  

    Knights freshman Graham Palmer shoots to add three onto their score during their victory over the Warriors Tuesday.
  

    Warriors sophomore Carlos Zamora works to rush past Knights junior Grant Wardenaar’s defensive front.
  

    Kobe Corrales, a sophomore from Wahluke, calls out to his teammates near the hoop during Tuesday’s district matchup against Royal.
  

    Senior Keaton Zirker from the Warriors quickly moves down the court to make a play at the hoop during Tuesday’s game against the Knights.