MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Last week, the members of the King’s boys basketball team may have thought basketball was life and death.
Now, the Knights see things a little differently.
Less than a week after the team bus flipped, injuring several players, the Knights returned to the court to continue their postseason run. King’s looked electric from the start, opening the game with a 9-0 run on its way to a 48-31 victory over Seattle Academy in the Class 1A Bi-District championship Friday night at Mountlake Terrace High School.
“It’s amazing how perspective changes,” King’s head coach Rick Skeen said. “A week ago, I felt like we had to win a state title, with all the buzz and what people were telling me. There was so much pressure. After (last) Saturday night, basketball doesn’t seem to be so important.”
After defeating Lynden Christian 74-63 in the 1A District 1 title game last Saturday, the King’s bus crashed while exiting I-5. After the bus driver screamed the brakes were malfunctioning, the bus picked up speed through the exit and then flipped at the bottom of the hill.
Skeen estimated the bus was going 60 to 70 miles per hour.
“I think all of us on that bus thought that was the end,” Skeen said. “We were on a bus going faster than any bus I’ve ever been on and we flipped and we were on our side.
“…We got off the freeway and the bus driver screams, ‘We’ve got no brakes.’ That’s a long exit, it was downhill. We had time. We had a lot of discussion. We were telling the kids to brace themselves. We were praying — lots of prayers being said. That’s the scariest part of the whole thing: You’re on a ride that you know isn’t going to end well.”
Skeen called it a miracle that everyone on the bus survived. Incredibly, aside from bumps and bruises, a wrist contusion and a concussion — one suffered by Skeen and another by a player — were the most serious injuries.
Half of the team was released at the scene, the other half was taken to local hospitals for evaluation.
“It’s truly a miracle,” Skeen said. “I think if you did the physics of that and simulate that, I don’t know how we’re not at funerals. I don’t know how it would happen outside of a miracle. … Guys are banged up. We’re like a football team after a Friday night. Guys were thrown around that bus like rag dolls.”
All but two players were available for Friday night’s game. Skeen said he hopes one — and possibly both — could return for next week’s regional contest.
“The crazy thing out of all of this is we were only two guys down,” said senior Calvin Kispert, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds in Friday’s game against Seattle Academy. “One should be back the next week and one before the state tournament. All things considered, we could have all been dead and now we’re up here 12-men strong, going for a state championship.”
Like Skeen, Kispert said he’s seeing things differently after the accident.
“The interesting thing when I woke up Saturday morning, before we played Lynden Christian, what was important to me when I woke up was so much different than what was important to me when I went to bed,” Kispert said. “When I woke up all I was thinking was, ‘We’ve got to beat Lynden Christian in the district championship.’ By the time I finally got to sleep at four in the morning, all I could think to myself was, ‘Does my family know I love them? Do my friends know I love them?’ It’s really just a perspective change.”
The King’s players’ new motto, “Saved for a reason,” was on shirts worn Friday by the Knights’ fans, who filled half of the gym at Mountlake Terrace. Skeen called it “a special atmosphere” and said the team has been overwhelmed by the community’s support.
King’s (21-2 overall) thanked its fans by opening the game with its 9-0 run, and held Seattle Academy (14-7) to just eight points in the first half as the outcome was never really in doubt.
“It’s really good to come out here on the floor,” Kispert said. “It all kind of feels normal again. It’s been such a weird week. To be back out here feels really good. … I’m really proud of how the whole team came together. That was pretty amazing to see.”
“It was really exciting. We’ve been banged up a little bit this week but we wanted to win this one,” added senior Noah Bundrant, who scored 12 points. “We came out pretty strong.”
The win gave the Knights a No. 1 seed in next week’s regional round of the state tournament. King’s doesn’t know which team it will play — it will find out after the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announces regional pairings Sunday night — and although the Knights’ have a new perspective on what’s important, they still wouldn’t mind winning a few more games.
“We’re all competitors and I told the kids, ‘Listen, I’ve changed a lot in a week but I still like winning better than losing,’” Skeen said. “Our kids want to win and we want to continue to chase some of those dreams that we had.”
At Mountlake Terrace H.S.
King’s 15 9 16 8 —48
Seattle Academy 2 6 14 9 —31
King’s—Andrew Ayers 0, Koa Wilkins 7, Noah Bundrant 12, Corey Kispert 11, Josh Alexander 6, Sam Echelbarger 0, Calvin Kispert 12. Seattle Academy—Marcus Austin 0, Ben Gerke 13, Ian McManus 5, Jackson Doran 3, Dylan Mortimer 4, Amit Perlin 6, Hal Vogel 0. 3-point goals—Wilkins 1, Corey Kispert 1, Calvin Kispert 1, Gerke 1, McManus 1, Doran 1, Perlin 2. Records—King’s 21-2 overall. Seattle Academy 14-7.
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