ROYAL CITY - Royal High School came up one game short of the state class 1A basketball tournament, falling to Granger, 57-28, for the South Central A Conference's third berth last Saturday.

However, there is a lot to celebrate. The Knights made it to district for the first time in seven years, and they were the last team standing from the SCAC East.

Those are some of the reasons to be hopeful for next year. Others are three returning regulars, including two starters, and the team's leading scorer.

"We are losing a lot of talent with this senior class, but we do have an excellent core of players returning," coach Pete Christensen said.

The trio that returns includes 6-4 Reed Lefler, 6-3 Kent Christensen and 6-2 Brady Dixon. Christensen led the team this year with nearly 12 points per game.

Christensen could be a league-leader next year. That will likely depend on how much he practices his shooting. His accuracy needs  to match his desire and aggressiveness.

Also back next year will be Carter Christensen, who saw light varsity duty. He was only a sophomore.

"The inside game will not fall off much, but the point play is yet to be determined," coach Christensen said.

Junior varsity guards who will vie for that position are Tyus Squeochs, Oscar Ramirez and Riley Lefler. They are also good shooters.

"This year's team is what we consider to be the start of a Royal basketball tradition," coach Christensen said.

The Knights started slowly. They were 3-5 after eight games. They went 8-3 after that and finished second in the SCAC East.

They got to 13-9 with a 44-36 win over SCAC East champion Kiona-Benton at district before dropping the state play-in game.

"(The Ki-Be) game was probably the highlight of the year," coach Christensen said. "It was a game where the players played as they were capable."

The Knights were especially tough on defense. They scored first and led 6-0 before Ki-Be scored. The Bears never saw the lead. Each time they came within two points, Royal pulled away again.

The Knights built a 19-14 lead at the half and stretched that to 33-24 after three periods.

Ki-Be tried to foul its way back in the last minute, but cool senior Danny Vermeer sank six straight free throws to secure the win.

Another cool - make that hot - Knight was senior Abel Castellon. He scored three three-point goals and pulled down 10 rebounds, including five under the offensive basket.

Castellon and Kent Christensen led team scoring with nine points each. Lefler and Kent Christensen had eight and seven rebounds. Lefler also scored eight points.

Defensively, the Knights came up with 12 steals, led by the seven of point guard Alex Ramirez.

In the Granger game, nothing went right. The Spartans opened with a 17-6 first quarter and raced away to their ninth straight state tournament.

It seemed as if the Knights had used up all of their game against Ki-Be. They made only 21 percent of their field goals and turned the ball over 19 times.

"It's disappointing to have the season end on probably our poorest-played game," coach Christensen said. "But it was a great year. The guys played hard throughout the year. We will learn and grow from this experience."