Giovanny Evanson sees himself more like a playmaker, a shot creator.
On Friday night, the King’s Way Christian junior was asked to be more of a shot taker, and that strategy propelled the Knights into the regional round of the 1A state tournament.
Evanson scored a season-best 34 points, propelling the Knights to a 53-43 win over Seton Catholic in a district winner-to-state/loser-out game at Fort Vancouver.
“Me and my coach talked before the game, and he told me to be way more aggressive and to look for my shot more,” Evanson said. “That’s what I tried to do tonight, instead of (pass). I obviously still tried to look for my teammates, but look for my own shot as well.”
That was evident from the start, especially after Seton jumped out to a 7-0 lead, then Evanson scored the Knights’ first nine point to put them up 9-7.
“He’s kind of wired to free guys up and distribute, so it’s almost outside of his personality to take more shots,” King’s Way coach Daven Harmeling said. “But we have to convince him that we’re a better team when he does that.”
Evanson scored 10 more points in the second quarter as the Knights took a 29-19 lead into halftime.
He scored nine of King’s Way’s 12 third-quarter points as the Knights stretched their lead to 41-23.
Seton Catholic made it a little bit interesting in the fourth quarter, hitting five 3-pointers. But the Cougars could get no closer than seven points before King’s Way sealed the game by hitting its final six free throws.
It may have taken a week longer than expected, but the Knights secured the berth to state they had hoped to lock down last weekend before falling at home to Castle Rock.
“We talked last week after that loss to Castle Rock that our mentality is going to either our season is about to be over or just getting started,” Harmeling said.
The Knights will have to wait to see where the seeding committee puts them in the 1A bracket. Whatever the draw, Evanson said the Knights are in a better place having to rally its way into state.
“I think it installed more hungriness in us,” Evanson said of the loss to Castle Rock. “I feel like we’re playing a lot harder now, because I feel like we kind of thought it would be a lot easier to get to state. And now we kind of have our backs against the wall, but I think it helps our team overall.”
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 53,
SETON CATHOLIC 43
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN — Jamison Duke 6, Ryan Tyler 6, Giovanny Evanson 34, Alex Fulton 3, Matthew Belefski 4, Hunter Baron 0, Will Gunn 0. Totals 20-53 (6-23) 7-11 53.
SETON CATHOLIC — Tyler Tran 0, Dax Clifton 0, Brady Angelo 9, Jacob George 5, Rico George 0, Westy Westrick 8, Breckin Miller 6, Jack Jenniges 15. Totals 16-44 (9-32) 2-5 43.
Seton 10 9 7 17—43
King’s Way 11 18 12 12—53
