Simply put, it’s not easy. Brown and the Bees secured their seventh win of the season against Roy at home Wednesday night, a 47-39 ballgame decided in the final two minutes.

But it hardly came easy, with Roy freshman Lily Solomona producing a double-double on 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Box Elder (7-10, 2-4 Region 5) leaned 24 combined points from senior Halli Wright and sophomore Brielle Yates to get the job done.

Brown, a 2008 Bees alum, knew the Royals, coming off single-digit two losses, would come into town hungry to steal a region win on the road.

“It was a good test for us as far as how we’ve improved and our offense against zone,” Brown said. “I feel like we did a better job moving it as the game went on and (Roy) fought pretty hard, so it was nice to see.

“They have a couple really talented players and we talked about how dangerous a team like that is, if you come in unprepared and thinking it’s going to be easy, we knew they’d fight for it because they want those wins in region just as much as we do.”

Winning the rebound margin 34-30, Roy (0-16, 0-6) outscored the Bees 17-14 in the fourth quarter. Biting back after a quiet third quarter, Roy senior Jazzi Prieto (nine points) drew the Royals within four on her lone 3-pointer, coming with little over two minutes to play.

Prieto, going 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, and fellow senior Eva Reed (seven points), finishing 3 for 4 at the stripe, gave the Royals a fighting chance late.

A second-chance point here or there decided Wednesday’s result, Williams said.

“We gave up four or five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter that should’ve been possessions for us,” Williams said. “I think we did a good job at the beginning of getting the ball inside. I think we kind of went away from that, and I’m not saying we have to get it in but we’ve got to get it (inside) to move their defense.”

Roy, led by Reed and freshman Quincy Hoover (eight rebounds, five points) in the first quarter, trailed the Bees by just three through eight minutes. Box Elder found the right buckets via sophomore Madison Barber (six points, three rebounds) and senior Emma Nelson (four points, two rebounds) for a six-point lead before halftime.

Box Elder sophomores Brooklyn Nelson (eight points, five rebounds) and Marley Barber (four points, six rebounds), and sophomore Milley Barber (one point), each chipped at least one free throw during the second half. The Bees, even while finishing the third quarter just 4 of 8 from the stripe, led Roy by 11 by the fourth quarter.

To finish like they did, Brown said, is a testament to just how much her locker room wants to be on the floor night in and night out.

“I feel like we talk a lot about our confidence and our competitiveness,” Brown said. “And I think that takes a hit sometimes against the top teams in our region. We’ve just talked about not allowing that to affect our improvement and how different things can be the second time around. They’re hungry for it, but they understand the work they still need to put it in.”

It’s a lot of what Williams is seeing from a winless Royals that wants anything but a zero in the win column when their first season under the former center comes to an end.

“I’m just trying to teach them the game and raise their basketball IQ,” Williams said. “If we can teach them how to read (defenses) and how to play, then we can really start implementing sets and then we can really start taking advantage of different things throughout the game.

“I also just want to them to understand effort and energy; this should be a fun thing. I know we’re 0-16 right now and that’s not fun, but we’re making progress and I’m trying to keep them positive towards the progress that we’re making.”

Roy hosts region leader Fremont on Friday while Box Elder travels to West Field. Both games are slated for 5:15 p.m. tips.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.