TOPPENISH — The Royal Knights concluded the district tournament after a climactic battle against Zillah ended in a 62-64 loss for Royal. The Knights still finished second in the 1A District 5 tournament and are entering as the third seed in the state tournament. 

“It was a tough one; I thought we played pretty well,” said head coach Tim Ravet. “We were basically a score and two stops away from beating them and being the number one seed, so I think we’re in a pretty good spot.” 

The game started off tight in the first quarter as both the Royal and Zillah were hitting their shots. The Knights ended the quarter just ahead of Zillah by two points. 

In the second quarter, Zillah went on an offensive run to outscore the Knights and steal the lead. Royal put up a fight, but the defensive efforts from Zillah held strong, and the Knights were down 28-34 by the end of the half. 

Returning from halftime, the Knights took control of the court as they made big plays on offense and slowed Zillah down to close the gap between the two teams. Royal outscored the opposition by five in the third quarter to make it a one-point game with eight minutes left. 

Both teams pushed hard to the very end in the fourth quarter, but Zillah outscored Royal to make for a two-point victory by the end of the buzzer.  

Knights junior Grant Wardenaar led the team offensively with 18 points scored and was followed closely by Graham Palmer, who shot four three-pointers, adding to his total of 17 points scored. 

As a result of Friday’s game, Royal took second place in District 5 and began preparations for State. 

“I think we’re sitting as well as we could,” said Ravet. “Two places you improve is winning and losing, and sometimes losing, you improve more, so you take it a little more seriously. We’ve got to sharpen our weapons and get her done.” 

Royal’s focus as they move forward into the state tournament is to treat every possession like it is the last possession of the game. The coach said Royal has played in some tight matches all season and will need to take all the lessons they learned on execution to make good use of each possession. 

“If we make the most of those little battles, we’ll win the war at the end,” he said. 

Ravet said the Knights’ success has come from the athletes’ skill and hard work and the culture they’ve built over the season. They got off to a late start with a new coach and no summer practice, he said, but they have made the most of each game. 

As a basketball coach, Ravet said he tries to piggyback off the culture that was built during the football season and spin that to work for a different sport. The players, he said, have to accept different roles and learn to trust that their teammates will come through. 

“I think we’re getting sharper and at the end of the season people focus a little more,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of buy-in, and I think everybody’s ready and excited to make this state run.” 

The Royal players’ work has been going nonstop since August, when they began football training and fought through that season to bring home a championship. The coach said the Knights have the right mindset and the skills to push through their exhaustion, (and) bring home a state championship in basketball. 

“We have the opportunity to do something that (Royal basketball) never did before, which is win a state title, so that should be exciting,” said Ravet. “We just have to get prepared and (that) will take away the pressure.” 

The Knights enter the first round of the state tournament Saturday at 2 p.m., where they face King’s at Davis High School. 

BOX SCORE 

ROYL: 14-14-18-16: 62
ZILL: 12-22-13-17: 64

    Graham Palmer, a freshman from Royal, receives the ball from a teammate as he goes in for a layup in a previous matchup this season. Palmer scored four three-pointers in Friday’s game against Zillah.
  

    Knights junior Fischer Livingston gets ready to make a shot in a previous district matchup this postseason.