By John Mesh
The Kansas Class 4A state girls basketball tournament semifinals Friday night will feature a battle of the Crusaders: Buhler vs. Wellington.
The No. 5-seeded Buhler girls basketball team defeated No. 4 Labette County 56-51 in the second game of Kansas Class 4A girls state tournament quarterfinals Thursday at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina.
The Buhler Crusaders (19-4) will play the No. 1-seeded Wellington Crusaders (22-1) in the 4 p.m. semifinal game Friday. Wellington defeated Andale 52-40 in the first girls quarterfinal game Thursday.
In the 8 p.m. girls semifinal game Friday, Topeka Hayden (21-2) will play Bishop Miege (18-4). In the late quarterfinal games, Hayden defeated Clay Center (17-6) 56-44 and Miege defeated Eudora (20-3) 68-35.
Buhler trailed 12-11 at the end of the first quarter and led at halftime 25-22. Buhler opened up a 40-32 lead at the end of the third quarter. Labette County outscored Buhler 19-16 in the fourth quarter.
Gracie Oard led the Buhler girls with 14 points and Ella Voss 12. Charley Baxter and Nyah Sewell scored 8 points each, Sammie Brooks 5, Claudia Taylor 5 and Natalya Krafels 4.
Krafels and Baxter each had 5 rebounds. Oard and Voss each had 3 steals. Vosshad 3 assists.
Landry O’Brien scored 27 points for Labette County, including 10-of-14 free throws. Jayden Davis added 7 points and Kinsey Boss 5. Aubrey Boss and Madison Bevans each scored 2 points. Davis grabbed 11 rebounds and had 4 steals.
Labette County finished the season with an 18-5 record and the Andale girls finished with a 15-8 record.
Class 3A boys state tournament semifinal matchups set
In Game 1 of the Kansas Class 3A boys state tournament quarterfinals Thursday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, No. 1-seed Galena (23-0) defeated No. 8 Kansas City Bishop Ward 55-48.
Galena (23-0), advanced to its fourth semifinal in school history (all since 2020). The Bulldogs will play No. 4-seed Hesston (22-2) in the 4 p.m. semifinal game Friday. The Bulldogs are coached by Matt Meyr.
In the 8 p.m. boys semifinal game Friday, Silver Lake (19-5) will play No. 6 Goodland (21-3).
In the other quarterfinal matchups, Hesston defeated No. 5-seed Burlington (20-4) 45-42, Silver Lake defeated Lakin (22-2) 48-46 and Goodland defeated No. 3 Cheney (22-2) 68-52.
Thatcher Botkin led Galena with 16 points. Jackson Perry scored 13 and Linken Kimberling added 11. Tyler Holmes led Bishop Ward (16-8) with 19 points.
Reed Friesen scored 26 of Hesston’s 45 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Sage Fejfar led the Bucklin Red Aces with 10 points and 9 rebounds.
Dayne Johnson scored 27 of Silver Lake’s 48 points against Lakin and grabbed 8 rebounds. Aemon Coffman added 10 points.
Nicolas Doume led Lakin with 16 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Colter Oldham scored 9 points. Austin Ritsema scored 8 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Brady Brumbaugh led the Goodland Cowboys with 21 points, including four 3-pointers. Braylon Mull added 13 points and Zach Thorson 12. Linkon Cure contributed 9 points and 7 rebounds.
Joshua Burdock led the Cheney Cardinals with 18 points. Quaid Thomas tallied 15 and Carter Peinter 12.
In the Class 3A girls state basketball tournament semifinals Friday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, Halstead (23-1) plays Colby (22-2) at 2 p.m. and Hesston (24-0) plays Silver Lake (22-2) at 6 p.m.
Season ends for Hutchinson Central Christian boys with state quarterfinal loss to Axtell
The 2024-25 season came to and end for the Hutchinson Central Christian boys basketball team with a 66-46 loss to Axtell in the quarterfinals of the Kansas Class 1A Division II boys state tournament Thursday at the Colby Event Center.
Axtell (23-1) will play Dighton (21-3) in the 8 p.m. semifinal Friday. Dighton defeated Lebo (13-10) 60-40 in the late Thursday boys quarterfinal game.
The Cunningham Wildcats, the defending 1A DII champions making their third trip to state, will play No. 4-seed McPherson-Elyria Christian (20-4) in the 4 p.m. semifinal game Friday.
The road warriors from Hutchinson Central Christian were No. 7 seed in the state tournament and finished the season with a 13-11 record. The Cougars traveled more than 1,500 miles for their postseason games.
Brody Froese led the Central Christian Cougars with 12 points. Jayden Linscheid added 9 points, Piercen Huff 7, Cal Barnett 7, Ryland Kooiman 6, Cael Kooiman 3 and Tucker Clark 2.
Huff grabbed 6 rebounds and Linscheid 4. Barnett had 3 assists. Huff also had 3 stars.
Logan Sandmann led Axtell with 16 points, Brandon Schmelzle 15, Eli Broxterman 11, Wyatt Detweiler 9, Landon Schmitz 7, Colin Shaughnessy 6 and Joesph Lybarger 2.
Sandmann and Broxterman each grabbed 10 rebounds, Schmelzle 9 and Schmitz 7. Detweiler had 6 assists, Broxterman 6, Schmitz 4 and Schmelzle 3. Schmitz had 3 steals.
No. 1-seed Cunningham (24-0) defeated No. 8 Bucklin (13-12) 63-50 in the first quarterfinal game.
Luke Albers led Cunningham with 30 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 7 steals. Nate Sterner had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals. Will Wegerer had 10 points and 5 steals. Dagim Reed added 6 steals.
Cunningham had 24 steals and forced 33 turnovers.
Bucklin was led by Kaden Alley with 19 points and Lucas Kirk tallied 14. Cody Evans grabbed 11 rebounds and Kirk 9. Bucklin outrebounded the Wildcats 42-31.
Elyria Christian defeated Hanover (16-7) 62-57 in the second quarterfinal game Thursday. Elyria Christian is making the third state tournament semifinal appearance in school history.
Elyria Christian’s Ty Romero scored 36 points, including five dunks. He has scored more than 1,500 career points.
Inman girls to play Moundridge in 2A state semifinals
The No. 5-seeded Inman High School girls basketball team (20-3) defeated No. 4 Phillipsburg (20-4) in the second Class 2A girls state quarterfinals Thursday.
Inman (coached by Matt Harris and making their first trip to state since 2018) will play No. 1 Moundridge (22-2) in the 4 p.m. semifinal game Friday.
Moundridge defeated No. 8 Hays-Thomas More Prep-Marian (15-10) 62-50 in the first quarterfinal game.
In the 8 p.m. Friday girls semifinal, Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan (22-2) will play Doniphan West (18-5).
In the late quarterfinal games, Colgan defeated Valley Heights (16-9) 41-37 and Doniphan West defeated Chase County (21-3) 60-44e.
Inman led 24-10 after one quarter, 34-24 at halftime and 41-32 at the end of the third quarter. The Teutons outscored the Panthers 13-3 in the fourth quarter.
Suttyn Harris, a 5-foot-11 junior who will play volleyball at the University of Utah in two years, led the Teutons with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
Ellie Thimmesch scored 8 points, grabbed 3 rebonds, dished off 5 assists and had 2 steals. Morgan Froese had had 7 points and 7 rebounds. Maddison Parsons scored 6 points.
Raynee Eddy scored 3 points for the Teutons, Taylor Froese 2, Katelyn Nichols 2, Allison Schrag 2 and Olivia Brunk 1.
Kayla Jacobs led the Panthers will 11 points and 8 rebounds. Claire Vanderveen had 8 points and 5 steals. Brynn Billings had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Ryleigh Simms had 5 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
Cammi Unruh led Moundridge with 26 points. Hattie Hecox scored 11 and Halle Hecox 9. Brooke Koenigsman led the TMP Monarchs with 23 points.
Season ends for Little River boys in 1A DI state quarterfinals
The season came to an end for the No. 8-seed Little River boys basketball team (15-8) with a 57-53 loss to No. 1 Olpe (22-2) in the first quarterfinal game Thursday afternoon at Dodge City United Wireless Arena.
In the 4 p.m. semifinal game Friday, Olpe will play No. 4 Central Plains (19-4). In the second quarterfinal game Thursday, Central Plains defeated Frankfort (18-7) 54-44 in overtime.
In the 8 p.m. boys semifinal, Coldwater-South Central (22-2) will play Montezuma-South Gray (20-4).
In the late quarterfinal games Thursday, South Central defeated Clifton Clyde (17-7) 52-38 and South Gray defeated Quinter (17-7) 56-47.
No. 1 Derby girls to play Olathe North in Class 6A girls state semifinals
In the first Kansas Class 6A girls state tournament quarterfinal game Thursday, No. 1-seed Derby (20-3) defeated No. 8 Wichita East (16-7) 55-30.
Derby will face No. 5 Olathe North (17-5) in the 4 p.m. semifinal game Friday at Wichita State University’s Koch Arena.
Olathe North defeated Olathe South 63-52 in a quarterfinal matchup, led by Asia Lee’s 37 points.
In the 8 p.m. girls semifinal game Friday, Wichita Heights (20-3) plays Blue Valley North (19-4).
In the late quarterfinal games Thursday, Wichita Heights defeated Olathe West (16-7) 60-57 in overtime and Blue Valley North defeated Washburn Rural (16-7) 45-39.
Class 5A boys state semifinal matchups are set
In the Kansas Class 5A boys state tournament quarterfinal round Thursday, No. 1-seed Topeka Highland Park (23-0) defeated Andover Central (14-9) 65-56, Kansas City Piper (20-3) defeated Shawnee Heights (19-4) 70-52, Kapaun-Mount Carmel (20-3) defeated Topeka West (14-7) 64-50 and Andover (20-3) defeated Bonner Springs (18-5) 76-60.
Highland Park plays Kansas City Piper in the 4 p.m. semifinal game Friday and Andover plays Kapaun in the 8 p.m. semifinal.
Highland Park’s Mikey Williams finishes with 33 points, including 7 of 7 from 3-point range. Andover Central’s Jayden Brown and Jace Jefferson combined for eight 3-pointers and 29 points.
Kapaun’s Corbin Johnson scored 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Rocco Keller scored 13. Malakyah Duncan led Topeka West with 17 points. Keimani Paul added 12 points.
Kansas City Piper was led in scoring by PJ Moore with 18 points, followed by Isaiah Sayles with 16. Jaret Sanchez led Wichita Heights with 16 points. Ontario Emmitt and Da’Quan Spotted Bear-Lee each scored 10.
Blue Dragon baseball team powers up in doubleheader split with Barton
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon baseball team four home runs during a doubleheader split, including two by Eli Duncan, with Barton Community College Thursday at Hobart-Detter Field.
No. 20 Hutchinson won the first game 8-3 and lost the second game 8-7.
Hutchinson plays a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Barton Friday at Great Bend. The doubleheader was moved up one day.
Hutchinson Trinity’s Amy Suter-Tan, Max Ryan named to HOA squads
Two Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School basketball players earned postseason recognition by the Heart of America League.
Sophomore Alex Suter-Tan was named to the HOA All-League girls second team.
Senior Max Ryan was named to the HOA All-League boys second team.
Suter-Tan and Ryan were the top scorers for the Celtic squads.