ROYAL CITY - They Royal girls were held to fewer than 10 points in all eight quarters last weekend, and they were downed by White Swan, 66-10, and Connell 52-17.

There is not much to say about White Swan's 66-10 thumping of the Royal girls other than that the Cougars are tough every year and may be more so this year.

"White Swan is a good team and is always in the mix in their district for a state berth," Royal coach Phil Daubel said. "We have to elevate our game to match the intensity of a team like that."

The Cougars, who are known for their explosive, running, gunning offense, took a 15-7 lead after one quarter and ran away with a 23-0 second period.

Meanwhile, Royal really struggled to score. The Knights were only two for 33 from the field and six for 15 from the line, and the team suffered 34 turnovers.

To make things worse, their leading scorer and playmaker, Flor Araujo, was on a family trip to California.

Jennifer Ledezma was Royal's leading scorer with four points. Sophia Rodriguez matched her in rebounding with eight caroms each.

Araujo was back for the Connell game, but she wasn't very effective. She made one three-pointer but missed her eight other attempts from the field. The team missed 29 of its 35 shots and seven of 10 free throws.

"We had another rough shooting night, shooting only 16 percent from the field, and we were also only 23 percent from the line," Daubel said. "We also didn't take care of the ball tonight. You are not going to win or compete in many games turning the ball over 43 times."

Daubel was happy with the way his girls played defense. They corralled 29 rebounds and made 10 steals.

Royal's girls will play a non-league contest at Cle Elum tonight. They will travel to River View Saturday for a SCAC meeting.