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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Walter is big man in King’s Way victory

Junior scores career-high 33 in win over La Center

By , Columbian Sports Editor
Published:

Kienan Walter is a lanky 6-foot-8 junior who his is still growing into his body.

Thursday, Walter’s stature on the basketball court had a growth spurt.

Walter scored a career-high 33 points to lead King’s Way to a 58-46 win over La Center.

Walter scored from inside. He made seven field goals in the paint, while the rest of his team hit just three two-point shots.

Walter scored from outside. He made two 3-pointers and his ability to shoot outside created a matchup nightmare for La Center.

Walter scored from the free throw line, where he made 13 of 17 foul shots.

Walter, along with La Center’s cold shooting, let the host Knights improve to 3-3 overall, 2-1 in the 1A Trico League. La Center fell to 2-3 and 2-1 in league.

King’s Way coach Daven Harmeling was most impressed with how Walter stuck his nose into the scrums near the basket.

“Sometimes he can fall in love with the outside game,” Harmeling said. “But I thought he really imposed his will tonight. Guys were beating on him the whole game. He didn’t shy away from the physicality.”

After the game, Walter said he’s trying everything he can to gain weight.

“I’ve been stuffing my face every morning,” he said. “Lots of protein shakes.”

La Center had a lean night from the field. The Wildcats led 19-12 after the first quarter, but were 9-for-36 from the field the rest of the game.

“We were probably in the 20th percentile shooting from the field,” Wildcats coach Jon Schroeder said. “When any team does that, it equals death at any level. We didn’t do a very good job of attacking the rim. We settled for too many outside shots, too many early shots.”

Despite its cold shooting, La Center trailed 42-39 with five minutes to play. But King’s Way scored nine straight points, including five by Walter, to take control of the game.

The Knights, who have just two seniors, then protected the lead by making free throws. Cole Jensen added 16 points, including two 3-pointers.

“This was big for us,” Harmeling said. “Anytime you have high school kids who are young and impressionable, they can swing one way or the other pretty quick.”

Walter said the key to Thursday’s breakout performance was just doing what coaches told him to.

“I needed to run the offense tonight because we know it works,” Walter said. “We have good coaches who know what they’re doing. When we do what they tell us to, we win.”

Harmeling isn’t worried if word about Walter spreads around the Trico League. Thursday’s 33-point game might have moved him into “stop me if you can” territory.

“Everybody knows we go through him,” Harmeling said. “When you have a 6-foot-8 kid who can play one through five, usually the ball’s going to go through him. Every team is going to focus on him.”

KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 58, LA CENTER 46

LA CENTER (2-3, 2-1) – Dalton Morgan 9, Chase Davidson 5, Will Rice 12, Wyatt Aguirre 4, Sawyer Bierscheid 2, Brody Seter 12, Max Hiller 0, Jake Wise 2. Totals 16 (6) 8-20 46.

KING’S WAY (3-3, 2-1) – Cole Jensen 16, Nick Pulicella 0, Karter Graves 1, Mikey Johnson 0, Joe Mills 3, Kyle Gonzales 4, Arda Aydin 1, Kienan Walter 33. Totals 15 (5) 20-31 58.

La Center 19 7 9 11 — 46

King’s Way 12 15 13 18 — 58

JV – La Center 64-49.

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