ROYAL CITY - Royal High School edged Burbank, 38-32, at Toppenish Saturday to advance in the South Central A District Boys Basketball Tournament.

"It was ugly, but it was a win," coach Pete Christensen said.

The Knights are one of four teams that remain in the hunt for one state tournament berth. Zillah and Naches have already claimed the first two tickets.

The Knights, 12-9, will take on Kiona-Benton, 17-5, on Thursday at Zillah. If they win, they'll face Granger, 17-5, or Goldendale, 14-7, on Saturday for that final ticket.

If Royal and Granger meet again, the Knights should go in with confidence. They scared Granger in the tourney opener before falling, 58-51.

If Saturday's game was ugly, it was only because of poor shooting. With the pressure of elimination bearing down, neither team could readily find the basket. Royal shot 28 percent, and Burbank did worse.

Otherwise, the game was lively. The teams moved briskly and passed the ball around smartly. They even tried numerous three-pointers. Royal made one of 15.

The difference was Royal's defense. Taking advantage of their height, the Knights kept the Coyotes out of the key.

Burbank got few tipbacks, with Royal corralling 40 rebounds. Reed Lefler led with 11.

Burbank tried the same tactic, and it worked, mostly. The Knights have bumps and bruises to show for it.

"It was late in the second half before our inside game started to take effect," Christensen said.

Part of the difficulty was the loss of 6-3 Kent Christensen for nearly a half. The most aggressive of the Knights was poked in the eye in the first quarter.

Christensen came back to the game with his familiar aggressiveness and started firing. He finished the game with a team-leading 13 points. The 6-4 Lefler backed that with 11 points.

Danny Vermeer was the scoring leader against Granger with 18 points. Kent Christensen added 16, and Frank Leitz had 11.