Kienan Walter’s 24 points and excellent 3-point shooting helped the King’s Way Knights advance to the final of the 1A District 4 Boys Basketball tournament with a 61-55 win over Eatonville.
“I’m still on kind of a high,” Walter said after the game. “It was such a great exhilarating feeling. I thought we played great. We played our butts off and came out on top. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Walter had good reason to be excited, considering the way Eatonville gave the Knights a run for their money.
It was a pretty solid day for Walter on and off the court as he was named the 1A Trico League Boys Basketball Player of the Year on Tuesday.
“It’s pretty cool, but that doesn’t mean anything if we don’t get to where our goal is: a state title,” Walter said.
After an excellent first quarter in which King’s Way led by as many as 13 points, Eatonville fought its way back into the game.
It remain a theme throughout the game as King’s Way needed to answer each of Eatonville’s runs.
The Cruisers got to within one point multiple times in the game — but every time they got close, the Knights had an answer.
“We played really hard on defense and we needed to because they were hitting 3’s like crazy,” Walter said.
Eatonville only had five 3-pointers to 10 for King’s Way, but it was enough to put a good scare into the Knights.
Skylar Freeman pitched in 11 points for the Knights and Karter Graves pitched in two big 3-pointers for all six of his points in the second half when Eatonville made things interesting.
Now, the Knights move on to the district final, where they look to make a little history on their way to making a little more.
“We feel really good,” Walter said. “We have a lot of momentum behind us. And we’ve never won a district title before in school history. That would feel pretty good, too.”
KING’S WAY 61, EATONVILLE 55
King’s Way — Nick Pulicella 0, Kefentse Cason 0, Darion Lycksell 0, Skyler Freeman 11, Karter Graves 6, Joe Mills 8, Kyle Gonzales 5, Kienan Walter 24, Preston Danberg 7. Totals 20(10) 11-15 61.
Eatonville — Brandt 9, Schoeph 2, Springer 17, Wolfe 0, Layman 0, York 2, Moeller 14, Hatchings 11. Totals 21 (5) 8-15 55.
