TACOMA — A 27-point halftime deficit was too much for No. 6 seed Royal to overcome in Saturday’s 1A regional loss to Annie Wright, as they eventually fell to the Gators 79-51 at Tacoma Community College.

The Knights opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers from senior Caden Allred and freshman Grant Wardenaar, but Annie Wright stormed back into the game by capitalizing off of Royal miscues.

“They’re a really good team – very clear that they’re a very good team, and their ability to turn us over, rush shots and get long rebounds got them out in front,” Royal head coach Greg Jenks said. 

Annie Wright closed out the first quarter on a 19-4 run, then outscored the Knights 23-5 in the second frame to take a 42-15 lead into the halftime locker room. The Gators swarmed the Knights on the defensive end, forcing turnovers and building their lead on baskets in transition.

“When you turn it over and take rushed shots without getting rebounds, that allows the team to get out,” Jenks said. “A lot of hesitation on offense.”

Royal came out stronger in the second half, putting together a 22-point third quarter where the offense was able to move the ball more effectively against Annie Wright’s defenders.

“They deny hard at the wing, and that’s the first team we’ve seen that denies that hard,” Jenks said. “Instead of just playing basketball and reading what they were giving us, we were trying to run the play. We just needed to take what they were giving us, which we did in the second half.”

Despite the offensive surge in the third quarter, Royal’s 21-point deficit was too much to handle, eventually falling to Annie Wright, which advances to the 1A Boys State Basketball Tournament quarterfinals Thursday. Royal will play No. 11 Riverside on Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Yakima Valley SunDome in a loser-out game. The Riverside Rams took down No. 14 seed Bellevue Christian 63-52 in the regional round on Saturday.

“We have competitors, we have fighters; I feel like they just went and played basketball like they know how to play,” Jenks said. “At that point, it was a little easier to not worry about the scoreboard and just play ball.”

After Royal’s 13-game win streak was snapped in the South Central Athletic Conference district championship game against Zillah — a 64-52 loss to the state tournament’s No. 1 seed — the Knights responded by defeating Wapato for the third time this season, a 77-70 win on Feb. 17 to qualify for the state tournament.

“The boys have done a good job of staying focused on the next game all year long,” Jenks said. “When we were used to that already, it made it easier to put that loss behind us and move on to Wapato.”

Jenks said the team’s transition from the first to the second half was the biggest takeaway from Saturday’s loss to Annie Wright.

“Building off that momentum, and knowing that we can play with good basketball players,” Jenks said. “Knowing that we can make adjustments.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

ROY: 10-5-22-14 51

AW: 19-23-16-21 79

    Royal freshman Grant Wardenaar (0) led the Knights with 14 points in their regional game against No. 3 Annie Wright Saturday at Tacoma Community College.
  

    Royal senior Caden Allred, left, shoots a fadeaway jump shot in the second quarter against Annie Wright at Tacoma Community College.
  

    Royal junior James Blair, foreground, attempts an open layup in the first quarter against Annie Wright.