COLONY — Crest High head coach Dakotah Sporing promised anyone who would listen that Lancer freshman Kole Walter was going to make an impact on the team, sooner rather than later.
Visiting Southeast of Cherokee didn’t need any convincing.
Walter scored 23 points, including a critical 3-point play in the final minute as Crest opened the 2025 portion of its schedule with a 60-56 victory.
“As much of a breakout game could be, that was it,” Sporing said. “He controlled the game the whole way.”
It was Walter whose 3-pointer late in the first quarter pushed Crest ahead for good, 11-9.
It was Walter’s spinning layup early in the third quarter, after Southeast had shaved a nine-point deficit to three. A few minutes later, he converted a 3-point play to stretch the lead to 39-27.
Southeast didn’t go away quietly, taking advantage of Crest miscues against its full-court press.
“They weren’t turning us over, but they were speeding us up,” Sporing said.
Tyler Warner scored on back-to-back possessions as Crest pulled to within 52-50 with 3 ½ minutes left in the game.
Gentry McGhee responded with a free throw for Crest, Jacob Zimmerman followed with a steal, and Walter’s baseline jumper pushed Crest back ahead 55-50.
Southeast had one final salvo.
Garrett Burger’s basket sliced Crest’s lead to three before Zayne Gabern stole the inbound pass, leading to another Warner layup, and suddenly Crest’s lead was 57-56 with about 35 seconds left.
After a timeout, Walter drove to the basket, absorbed the foul and drained the running jumper. His subsequent free throw made it a four-point lead with 24 seconds left.
“That’s as good as I’ve seen someone play for us in a long time,” Sporing said.
Southeast missed twice from 3-point range on its next possession and Crest was able to run out the clock.
