ROYAL — The Royal High boys saw their basketball season come to a close last week with a 58-49 loss to Naches at the SCAC district tournament, but the disappointment didn’t last long.

There was a look to the future which, next year, could see the first regional berth for Royal since the class 1A schools went to a regional setup. The team that missed by one game this year will nearly all be back next year.

“Regardless of the win-loss record, I am proud of the perseverance our kids have had this season,” head coach Pete Christensen said. “It has been a fun and exciting season.”

The Knights started their final game slowly. Naches led 21-10 after one quarter. The Knights came back in the second quarter, 15-9, then their shooting, as a team, went cold.

Only junior Kaden Jenks, who scored 24 points, had a good night, making 58 percent of his shots. Meanwhile the Ranger defense concentrated on sophomore Corbin Christensen and limited him to four points on one of 13 shots.

The game featured another double-double for Jenks, who pulled down 11 rebounds.