Class 3A Boys State Championship in Hutchinson on Saturday, March 12th 

It was a battle of 24-1 teams and the Hesston Swathers defended and repeated as Class 3A champs on Saturday afternoon holding Royal Valley took their lowest scoring output of the season and a frustrating 39 percent shooting day that included going just 3-14 from long range. Despite the Panthers leading 10-5 early, Hesston ended the first quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 20-12 lead and never really let the Panthers back in the game. The Swathers led 28-15 at halftime while holding Royal Valley to just three points in the second quarter and balooned the advantage to 19 points while the Panthers never got closer than six points in the final minutes. 

Hesston made nearly 50 percent of their shot attempts and added 11 second chance points while knocking down 16 of 24 free throws in the game including 10 of 15 in the fourth quarter. The Panthers committed 9 of thier 14 turnovers in the first half and seemed out of sorts with some unforced errors and a lot of short empty possessions on offense.

Nahcs Wahwassuck finished the three state tourney games with 68 total points making 8 of 20 field goals on Saturday but without any three-pointers before getting 13 of his 20 points in the final period. Mason Thomas hit a pair of treys and scored 8 before fouling out but the Panthers couldn't get the ball to the low blocks and finish inside as Brady Klotz and KJ Miller combined for just eight total points. Miller had a team high 9 rebounds while Wahwassuck had five boards and five assists as well as four steals. 

Hesston had four players score between 9 and 13 points in a balanced attack and played full court man defense the entire game with constant pressure while being very disciplined on the offense end to repeat as state champs and win their fifth boys basketball title at 25-1.

Royal Valley and their five senior starters may have struggled in their final game and fell one win short of their season goal, but no doubt have rewritten and stamped their place forever in Panther basketball history. RV has won the Big 7 League the past three years and qualified for state the last two years for the first time in program history. They also won their first two state tournament games with hard fought victories against Girard and SE of Saline while several individual and team school records were broken along the way before a sensational run ended with silver medals and a 2nd place state trophy coming back to Hoyt.