3A State Tournament in Hutchison on Wednesday, March 9th 

Royal Valley held a 19-17 halftime lead and maintained a tight advantage throughout the second half  by going 23 of 26 from the free throw line to advance as the top seed with a 60-56 quarterfinal victory. It was first state basketball tournament win in school history for the Panthers who improved to 23-1 on the season and will now face Southeast of Saline in a 2:00 PM Friday semifinal as the SE-Saline won their opening round state game 62-53 against Osage City. 

Nahcs Wahwassuck scored 30 points and went 14 of 16 from the charity stipe while Brady Klotz added 12 points and KJ Miller chipped in 10 and Mason Thomas had the other 7. The Panthers forced only four turnovers and were forced to generate offense in the half court on a day they made just 5 of 15 three-pointers. 

Both teams started slow with Royal Valley ahead 9-5 in the first five minutes before Girard tied the game at 9 at the end of the first quarter and then extended the run to take a 13-9 advantage before RV closed the half on a 10-4 run. Wahwassuck scored 13 of his points in a highly contested third quarter and the Panthers stretched the lead to 38-34 entering the fourth.  The biggest margin of the day with 49-41 for Royal Valley with 4:20 remaining  before the Panthers hit nine more foul shots down the stretch to protect the lead. 

Girard got 18 points from Brahm Born and Brecken Troike added 17 as the Trojans closed their season as 16-6 and made just 9 of 15 from the charity stripe.