YAKIMA – Neither snow nor a holiday could keep Khalfani Cason out of the gym this week.
Cason made sure nothing could keep the King’s Way Christian boys basketball team from the SunDome for a fourth straight year.
Cason scored 35 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime, as King’s Way beat Wahluke 71-67 in the regional round of the Class 1A state tournament Saturday at Eisenhower High School.
The No. 15-seed Knights (14-10) return to Yakima for a loser-out game Wednesday against No. 7 Cascade Christian at 10:30 a.m. in the SunDome.
With school out of session all week, Cason went early each morning to 24 Hour Fitness.
There, starting at 6 a.m., the junior kept his game fresh. He also practiced shooting buzzer-beaters, should Saturday’s loser-out game come down to the wire.
Cason made sure his team had that chance.
Trailing most of the game, including 62-55 with 5:00 to play, King’s Way stayed within striking distance behind their leading scorer. Cason scored 23 of his team’s 31 points in the third and fourth quarters.
Leading 64-61, No. 10 seeded Wahluke ran the shot clock down, then missed a shot with 20 seconds to play.
King’s Way got the rebound and opted not to take a timeout. The ball went to Cason.
“It was exactly what I was practicing in the gym,” he said. “I created a little space, because I had to, and it fell through.”
Cason drilled a shot from three feet behind the 3-point line with two seconds to play. It was the first time King’s Way hadn’t trailed since early in the second quarter.
“He has an edge where he’s not afraid of anybody,” King’s Way coach Daven Harmeling said. “I think that’s what prepares him for it. I think he understand how much work he’s put in, so these moments mean a lot to him.”
Wahluke (17-8) made a field goal on its first possession of overtime, but that would be its last. The Warriors scored just one point the rest of the way.
That was in sharp contrast to most of the game. Ricardo Cabrera scored 31 points and Sergio Peneda added 17, delighting the pro-Wahluke crowd that traveled 50-some miles southwest from Mattawa.
“Those are guys that look like they’re playing junior college ball,” Harmeling said of Wahluke’s 6-foot-1 backcourt tandem. “They’re big, physical and athletic.”
For much of the game, Harmeling felt his team was overmatched.
“I feel so conflicted emotionally because I was upset for the duration of the game,” he said. “We didn’t do anything near what we were trying to do. Let’s be honest and call it what it is. Khalfani saved us.”
Yet here is King’s Way, which on paper might be the most unusual suspect among the 12 teams left in the 1A state tournament. The Knights have just one senior and one returner from last year. Saturday, they started one junior, three sophomores and a freshman.
But the team’s standards remain high as ever.
“The players know they’re part of a program that has high expectations,” Harmeling said. “Whether they’re young or whatever the reason, they want to be a part of that tradition.”
That is part of what drove Cason to the gym early in the morning. Those unheralded hours paid off in that split second when his season-saving shot swished through the net.
“All the hard work I’ve put in, all the shots, all the little stuff the people don’t see,” he said. “It happened in that little moment.”
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 71, WAHLUKE 67, OT
KING’S WAY – Khalfani Cason 35, Kobi Cason 10, Kaden Lukas 0, Gage Koenders 14, Bryce Dodge 8, Justin Frahm 2, Brady Metz 2, Nate Snider 0. Totals 24 (11) 12-18 71.
WAHLUKE – Carlos Garza 0, Abraham Olivares 4, Francisco Espindola 2, Sergio Peneda 17, Ricardo Cabrera 31, Tanu Buck 2, Alex Valdez 11. Totals 26 (6) 9-17 67.
King’s Way 18 13 20 11 7—71
Wahluke 13 23 18 10 3—67
