KELSO – Hit with another bout of adversity, King’s Way Christian coach Daven Harmeling turned to his star, Kienan Walter, during pre-game warmups and had a simple request.
“I told Kienan ‘I might need 40 from you tonight, big guy,” Harmeling said. “He looked at me and said ‘I think I can do that.’ “
Walter fell short of that goal, but still managed to gain a bigger one: a district championship.
Walter scored 37 points to lead the Knights to a 64-58 win over Kalama in the Class 1A boys basketball district championship game on Saturday.
“I just stayed aggressive and kept taking the ball to the hoop,” Walter said. “And then it started working.”
After losing starter Arda Aydin to a knee injury earlier this season, the Knights (19-4) were dealt another blow on Friday when the team’s third-leading scorer Kyle Gonzales was hit with a bout of appendicitis.
“Kyle called me Friday afternoon to tell me, and I was like ‘Wow!’” Harmeling said. “But it’s like I told the kids, the other teams aren’t going to have sympathy for you. You just have to play through it.”
The Knights were feeling Gonzales’ pain after Kalama finished the second quarter with a 22-2 run to take a 33-20 halftime lead.
“We kind of felt like they were celebrating already, and the game wasn’t over,” Walter said. “But we said they had their big quarter, and we haven’t had ours yet.”
Walter scored 11 straight points for the Knights in the third quarter as King’s Way cut Kalama’s lead to 45-42.
Karter Graves’ 3-pointer early in the fourth gave the King’s Way its first lead since midway in the second quarter at 50-47.
The Knights would not trail the rest of the way. Birthday boy Joe Mills went 4 for 4 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win.
“This is just so exciting to get a league championship and now a district championship,” Walter said. “Now we need to take the next step, and that’s winning state.”
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 64, KALAMA 58
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN – Darion Lycksell 3, Skyler Freeman 6, Karter Graves 9, Joe Mills 9, Kienan Walter 37, Preston Danberg 0, Tony Huser 0. Totals 21 (8) 14-23 64.
KALAMA – Blake Stemkoski 14, Isaac Truesdell 6, Jonas VanSkike 4, Jared Caldwell 2, Austin Dines 7, Spencer Stone 4, Cameron Walker 7, Hunter Esary 14. Totals 21 (4) 12-15 58.
King’s Way 16 4 22 22—64
Kalama 11 22 12 13–58
