King’s Way boys rally to clinch 1B state berth

Falling down by eight points to a team that scores 73 points a game was not what the King’s Way Christian boys basketball tema had in mind when they started their Class 1B district semifinal game against Taholah.

But the Knights quickly regrouped with a big third quarter to beat the Chitwins 59-47 Saturday in Centralia to clinch a berth to the Class 1B state playoffs.

King’s Way Christian (18-4) will play Columbia Adventist or Mary M. Knight for the district championship on Monday night in Montesano.

Results of the other district semifinal were not available by deadline Saturday night.

Taholah (18-3) jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game, but King’s Way battled back to within 24-22 by halftime. Then King’s Way took control with a 25-7 advantage in the third quarter.

“The nerves left and we just played basketball,” said the Knights’ Jay Becker, who scored 17 pointers and hit 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Matt Johnnson had eight steals and eight assists to go with three points.

“We were confident we could get in their heads,” Johnson said. “We owned the second half.”

Christian Bukant had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Chris Crenshaw added nine points and 10 rebounds for the Knights.

Coach Don Russell said the Knight were playing Taholah’s game in the first half. But that changed after the intermission.

“All we had to do was flip that switch and play King’s Way basketball,” he said.