King’s Way hangs around for a half, falls to Lynden Christian 87-63 in state quarterfinals

YAKIMA—The King’s Way Christian boys took the floor at the Yakima Valley SunDome with top-seeded Lynden Christian and didn’t see what to seemingly anyone watching was blatantly obvious.

The Knights, whose tallest player is a 6-foot-2 freshman, were vastly undersized. But to them, that didn’t matter.

King’s Way fell 87-63 to the Lyncs in the 1A state quarterfinals and drop to the consolation bracket.

But for the first half, the Knights were the more physical team, won the rebound battle and shot at a high enough clip to make Lynden Christian, a strong contender for the 1A state title, nervous.

“We’re always undersized,” junior guard Kobi Cason said. “Every team we play, they’re bigger than us. It didn’t matter that they were 6-8, 6-7. We bring the same mentality for every game.”

Sure, their bid at a state title has been spoiled. But the Knights (15-11) can still match the program’s deepest run by placing fourth. King’s Way faces Royal (21-5) at 9 a.m. Friday in a fourth-place semifinal.

Khalfani Cason scored 14 of his team-best 25 points in the first half. His 3-pointer to open the second quarter — one of the Knights’ seven 3s in the half — put King’s Way up eight, 25-17. King’s Way shot 46.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3 in the first half. And the Knights outrebounded Lynden Christian 18-15 — a Lyncs roster that starts three players 6-7 and taller.

Khalfani Cason, the team’s leading scorer, sought to set the tone from the beginning.

“When we won yesterday, the whole day was me preparing because I knew I was going to have to play,” Khalfani Cason said. “If I can play good and not be scared and turn our nose to the team, I know my team could ride right behind me. We just didn’t finish the game.”

He hit six 3s, including one at the end of the third quarter from the half-court logo.

“When you make shots you always feel good about the way you are playing,” King’s Way coach Daven Harmeling said. “We had all five guys setting the tone being physical. You could probably look at the numbers and figure out how much weight we’re giving up in the starting five. … Physically we brought the fight to them.”

Until the third quarter.

King’s Way was outscored 31-13 in the third. The Lyncs strung together a 17-0 run that included eight points from guard Cole Bajema. At one point, Bajema pulled up and sunk a 3 from well beyond the NBA 3-point line.

“We came out flat defensively,” Harmeling said. “… The stuff they were running is hard to guard, then you layer in a D-I kid, a 6-7, 6-8 kid in the rotation, it’s tough.”

Lynden Christian shot 65.2 percent from the field in the second half, and didn’t allow King’s Way back into the game. On top of strong shooting, the Lyncs (24-1) got to the line to shoot 25 free throws in the third and fourth quarter.

Brady Metz finished with 14 points and Kobi Cason and Gage Koenders pitched in nine apiece for the Knights. Khalfani Cason finished with a game-high nine boards. Bajemas’ 26 points was a game-high.

Koenders, along with freshman Bryce Dodge, anchored a group of faux-big men who, for a half, outpunched their weight class.

“They’re not scared,” Kobi Cason said. “They take it head on. And they’re not really big men, they’re like guards.”

For the Knights, this run to state has been uncharted territory. The team returned just two players who played varsity minutes last season. But King’s Way’s four-year streak of state tournament appearances is not lost on them. In fact, they vie to achieve its new ceiling in the consolation bracket — fourth place.

“(We have to) look past this last game,” Kobi Cason said. “Erase it. Flush the game we just had and look forward, focus on the next team.”

LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 87, KING’S WAY 63
KING’S WAY—Khalfani Cason 25, Kobi Cason 9, Gage Koenders 9, Bryce Dodge 4, Brady Metz 14, Kaden Lucas 0, Ty Mairs 0, Kefentse Cason 2, Seth Woody 0, Justin Frahm 0, Nate Snider 0. Totals 21-52 (13-29) 8-9 63.
LYNDEN CHRISTIAN—Jordan Riddle 6, Cole Bajema 26, Andrew DeVries 12, Luke Bos 10, George DeJong 18, Michael Lancaster 0, Bryce Bouwman 7, Tanner Jansen 0, Cristian Colwell 8, Cole Langstraat 0, Jake Libolt 0, Zach Sipma 0. Totals 29-51 (8-24) 21-37 87.
King’s Way 22 14 13 14—63
Lynden Christian 17 20 31 19—87