Kast, Wardenaar lead Royal to win over Wahluke

MATTAWA — The Royal Knights (14-3) defeated the Wahluke Warriors (1-16) 70-22 Tuesday to take another win in the South Central Athletic Conference. Knights Coach Farrah Wardenaar is happy about the momentum her players are building.   

“We're excited about all of our wins. We beat Wapato last week, and so we're on an uphill trend, so we’re excited about it,” Farrah said.   

After the Knights built a commanding 18-6 lead over the Warriors in the first quarter, Lauren Wardenaar and Graycie Kast helped give them a 31-10 lead by halftime. While Wahluke’s effort never waned, the Knights kept their foot on the gas to outscore the Warriors 39-12 to seal the win.   

“This was the opportunity for us to work on a lot of things that we need to clean up, and an opportunity for a lot of kids to get minutes,” the coach said. “We wanted to work on our man defense. We had a couple new offenses; not many teams play a zone against us, so that was good. We got to work on our zone offenses, so I like that.”  

Kast found the basket early and often as the Knights jumped out to an 18-6 lead in the first quarter. Akleigh Hebdon sunk a two-pointer and three-pointer in the first quarter to help the Knights build their lead.   

Yohary Magaña, Ashya Erazo and Alexandra Rodriguez combined for 10 points in the first half for the Warriors. Despite the deficit at halftime, Wahluke Head Coach Mikai Hirai said he was happy to see his players giving their best effort.   

“I really enjoy it when they're showing that they want to go get the ball. It's real authentic energy when a girl dives on the floor and she wants that ball, and that really stands out to me, and we had more than a few girls do that,” Hirai said.   

In the second half, Lauren, Kast, Paige Christensen and Hebdon led the way with their scoring. The Knights outscored the Warriors 39-12 to cruise to another victory in the SCAC. Lauren finished with 23 points; Hebdon had 14, while Kast led the team with 26. The Knights excelled with rebounding and consistent with their ability to catch and shoot, Farrah said.   

“They're playing a lot of basketball, so they've practiced it, and as the season progresses, they're getting better. They're getting more comfortable with the little things like squaring up, and then shots start falling,” she said.   

Despite the loss, Hirai feels confident his team can finish the season strong.   

“We're eyeballing some wins here. We've got a few other teams that we pushed the last time we played. We really want to get that league win, and that would be our first one in over two years. So that's sort of what we're looking at down the stretch,” Hirai said.   

The Warriors hit the road on Jan. 30 to play Wapato at 5:45 p.m.  

As Royal embarks on their final stretch of games, starting with three straight road games, Farrah and the Knights have their sights on top seeding in the SCAC.   

“We have four games left, so we need to do our job, and we need to win, and then our goal is to be in the top eight, and hopefully we can slide in above Wapato for a two seed into districts,” she said.   

The Knights traveled to play Cashmere on Jan. 29 at 5:45 p.m. Results of that match were not available by press time. 

BOX SCORE:  

ROYL: 18-13-21-18: 70  
WHLK: 6-4-7-5: 22 

    Livi Wardenaar (2) steps up to guard Yohary Magaña (11) as she brings the ball across halfcourt.
  

    The Knights’ Briana Cedillo (11) shoots a three-pointer against the Wahluke Warriors. Head Coach Farrah Wardenaar said her players got to work on new schemes Tuesday.
  

    Paige Christensen (32) shoots a free throw during the Knights game against the Wahluke Warriors Tuesday.