Last season was a special one for the King’s Way Christian Knights. After finishing second in the Trico League and Southwest District tournament, the Knights rattled off four straight wins to earn the program’s first-ever spot in the 1A state championship game. They lost to Zillah 90-68 in that contest.
“We were close enough to know how far away we were,” said coach Daven Harmeling, repeating a quote he heard that stuck out to him. “We were tied at halftime, but lost by (22) points. There’s a lot of work to do in the program to legitimately compete for a title like that.”
So Harmeling won’t dwell on last year’s magic with this year’s group, even if they are largely the same squad.
Brady Metz, a 5-foot-10 senior, Bryson Metz, a 5-8 sophomore, Kobi Cason, a 6-0 senior and Gage Koenders, a 6-0 senior all earned all-league selections a season ago. Kai Butterworth, a 6-3 sophomore, Bryce Dodge, a 6-2 junior, and Bailey Meek, a 6-3 junior, add plenty of returning size for the Knights.
