YAKIMA — The Royal Knights (20-4) suffered a 48-47 loss to the King’s Knights after nearly pulling off the comeback in the opening round of the 1A state boys basketball tournament. 

“We came out flat (in the first half),” Head Coach Tim Ravet said. “We were flat on defense. We were flat on offense. We just didn't make shots early, and that didn't help our intensity on defense.” 

Both teams started slow in the first quarter as they felt each other out until King’s built a small lead by the end of that quarter. Over the course of the second, King’s widened the gap as they took the lead at halftime. After making a few adjustments during the break, Royal battled back throughout the second half. Royal managed to cut the deficit to 48-46 with a few seconds left. Graham Palmer had a chance to tie the game with free throws, but missed his second as King’s secured the win by a point.  

“Instead of playing harder, we kind of got frustrated that we weren’t making shots. You can't build your defense around what your offense is doing. Maybe your offense isn't going to go. You actually got to play harder defense, because you're going to be up against it for a while,” Ravet said.  

Royal was competitive in the first quarter, as Grant Wardenaar and Manny Ruvalcaba were able to draw fouls and get to the free-throw line. However, once King’s settled into the game, they pushed the pace. As the clock ran out in the first, they were able to build a 13-9 lead over Royal.  

King’s continued to push the pace in the second quarter as they built their lead. They were able to capitalize on fouls and contested shots not going down for RHS as they took a 28-17 lead at halftime.  

During the break, Ravet and Royal made a few adjustments to help them find new ways to attack on offense.  

“They're playing zone (defense) because they can't stay in front of us,” he said. “Don't settle for shots if you're not making them, you can’t control the makes or misses in that you got to get closer to the rim to warm up. We did a better job attacking the basket. We got the layup coming out at halftime, just a little Grant (Wardenaar) dump down for a layup, and then you can start building a little confidence.” 

Royal’s defense improved throughout the third quarter as they started to build momentum on offense. What was once a 16-point deficit at one point, Wardenaar caught a hot hand as they cut it to 41-31 heading into the fourth.  

Turnovers and fouls slowed Royal momentarily in the fourth quarter, but a three-pointer by Palmer provided some juice on offense to make it 46-38. As they kept battling, multiple players made clutch plays on both ends of the hardwood. After a three-pointer by Dax Jenks, Wardenaar used his height to his advantage to block a three attempt by King’s.  

Moments later, he pushed the ball down the court to draw a foul after a successful layup. After he drilled the free throw, the score was suddenly within two at 48-46 with under a minute to go. Royal tightened up on defense, not allowing King’s to make another shot, but time was ticking away.  

Needing to foul, Royal played up close defense as King’s looked to inbound the ball with under 10 seconds left. They tried to heave the ball over Royal’s heads but Jenks was in the right place at the right time to intercept the pass and call a timeout with three seconds left.  

As they inbounded the ball on their end of the court, Palmer drew a foul on a shot attempt, giving them a chance to tie the game. After sinking his first shot, the second bounced on the rim and into a King’s player’s hands, securing them the win and thwarting Royal’s comeback campaign.  

Despite the loss, Royal is still in the hunt for the state title. They will travel to Yakima to play the 11-seed Overlake in the SunDome at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

“We're going to start the tournament off at 9 a.m., and hopefully we're still playing at the end of it,” Ravet said.  

BOX SCORE:  

KNGS: 13-15-13-7: 48
ROYL: 9-8-16-14: 47

    The Knights’ Grant Wardenaar (24) knife’s through traffic for a layup against King’s in the opening round of the 1A state tournament.
  

    The Knights’ Manny Ruvalcaba (0) drives into the paint against a King’s defender during their game Saturday.
  

    Royal Knights Head Coach Tim Ravet, in black, schemes up a play for his team as they were trying to make a comeback attempt against King’s in the 1A state tournament.