ROYAL CITY - The shooting was as cold as the weather the weekend before Christmas as Royal High School split South Central A Conference East boys hoops contests with Connell and Burbank.

Afterward, coach Pete Christensen was grateful for the Christmas break. It gave his boys a chance they hadn't had earlier to work on their basketball skills. They were still in football mode.

Christensen hopes his boys will make a run to district when they return to competition. They are 1-3 in the SCAC East.

The Knights started slowly last year before making district. The good news is that all of the SCAC teams are within reach.

"We are looking forward to the Christmas break so we can double the practices we have had," Christensen said.

Royal may be the tallest team in the SCAC, East of West, but it struggles around the hoop. The Knights were held to 41 points in the loss to Connell and 34 in a victory over Burbank. Connell won with 47. Burbank had 26.

"Once we right that problem, most of the close games will take care of themselves," Christensen said.

The Knights had good shot selection against Connell, but the lid was still on the basket. The Burbank game was a very poor shooting contest from both teams. Royal won it with a 9-2 first period.

The good news was the Knights put the first half of the season to rest with their first conference win. The tough news was that half of the scoring (17 points) came from Kent Christensen.

Kent Christensen. had 31 percent shooting from the floor, while the team had 25. The second-leading scorer with seven points and 37 percent shooting was Brady Dixon.

Dixon also had four assists and two steals. Kent Christensen and Dixon led in rebounds with 14 and 11 respectively.

The Knights will return to action at home on Jan. 5 against Ritzville. They will travel to Naches on Jan. 8.