ROYAL CITY - Royal stayed with Highland for three quarters and then wilted in a 62-49 non-league high school boys basketball loss last week.

It was the Knights' fourth loss in a row and their second straight fourth quarter collapse in the face of late defensive pressure. They led, 28-27, at the half.

Afterwards coach Pete Christensen lamented the lack of practice his team has had because of the long football season. He's looking forward to a long Christmas break before the Jan. 5 re-start.

"We will be able to get eight or more practices without any game interruptions," he said.

With a good nucleus of returnees from the team that made it to district last year, the Knights were looking for a stellar year. Instead they were 3-6 after the Highland game. Getting into basketball condition will be one of the practice goals.

"I am going to have to do a better job of rotating the starters to keep them fresh," Christensen said. "I think some of our problem can be attributed to tired legs. We were a little slow on some of our late game defensive rotation."

This was a well played game. The final score doesn't show how close it was. It was still tight with six minutes left. Then Highland exploded for three unanswered three-point shots.

"The hardest part is dropping four games in a row," Christensen said. "We need to get back in the winning way soon."

Offensively, the Knights were led by their big boys. Reed Lefler scored 19 points, and Kent Christensen had 18. They led in rebounds with seven each.