The Seneca Royals boys basketball team welcomed a pair of Ridge & Valley Conference contenders to town last week and nearly came away with a stunning sweep.

The Royals began the week by hosting the third place De Soto Pirates last Tuesday, Feb. 3 and after one half the visiting Pirates held a 32-22 lead and were looking to extend it in the second half. 

For a while that did happen as the Pirates took a 40-25 lead on the Royals with 14:30 left in the game. The Royals were not about to lay down for the Pirates as they rallied to tie the game at 50 thanks to a three-point basket by senior Kaden Roberts with 6:16 remaining in the game.

De Soto would quickly regain the lead before Seneca would tie it back at up at 53-53 with 3:50 remaining thanks to a layup by senior Carson Sime. 

The Pirates would not quit however as they retook the lead for good on a second chance putback by junior big man Adam Venner with 1:33 left in the game.

The Royals were unable to tie or take the lead on their next possesion as the De Soto made just enough of their free throws down the stretch to leave with a 58-53 victory.

Six of the eight Royals that played in the game scored, led by seniors Jackson Konichek (17 points and 11 rebounds) and Hunter Hagensick (12 points and eight rebounds) in double figures. Sime and freshman Jaxx Wall each added eight points while Roberts (six points) and junior Dakota Owens (two points) rounded out the Royals scoring tally.

Seneca returned to the court three nights later as they welcomed North Crawford (now ranked seventh in D5) to town. The Royals responded to the De Soto loss by defeating the Trojans 67-57 to hand the visitors just their fourth loss of the season so far.

Konichek (19 points, 14 rebounds and five assists), Hagensick (17 points and five rebounds) and Gage Wall (15 points and five rebounds) each reached double figures in scoring for the Royals. Roberts (six points) and Sime and J. Wall (five points each) rounded out the scoring for Seneca.

Seneca moved to 7-10 overall and 3-6 in the RVC with the win. The Royals were home this past Tuesday night against La Farge before traveling to Wauzeka-Steuben tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m.