The Riverside girls basketball team will have another opportunity at the State Tournament here in 2024.

The Cyclones are back to the State Tournament for a second consecutive season after beating Maur Hill-Mount Academy 56-24 in a Sub-State Title game on Saturday.

Last season, Riverside shocked the classification and made a run all the way to the State Title game before losing in the final game to Berean Academy 48-31 to finish runner-up. The run included impressive wins in the first and semifinal round over Wichita Independent and St. Marys Colgan respectively.

The Cyclones were one of the top teams in 2A all season and were ranked in the top three, including number one, for most of the season.

They head to Dodge City with a record of 21-2 and will be the #5-seed. They will face off against #4-seed (22-1) Hoxie in the opening round on Wednesday, March 6th at 4:00 PM.

Head Coach Craig Burnes: “The players are excited to return to state and go for the Championship. Our three seniors are great ladies and deserve this chance to finish the job left undone from last year.

“And the communities of both Elwood and Wathena coming together to cheer us on every game is a great thing to see. We appreciate all the support.”

Burnes acknowledged the challenges of battling through some injuries as well as the tough stretch of making up games in a short amount of time because of weather throughout the season.

KNZA 103.9 FM will be carrying all Riverside games from Dodge City.