The 2025-26 season came to an end for the Hutchinson Central Christian boys basketball team with a 68-44 loss to Axtell in the quarterfinal round of the Kansas Class 1A Division II state tournament Tuesday afternoon at Emporia’s White Auditorium.
Axtell (26-1), the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A Division II field, will play Cunningham (17-8) in the 6 p.m. boys semifinal game Thursday at White Auditorium. Cunningham defeated Weskan 58-28.
In the other 1A DII boys quarterfinal games, Hanover defeated Deerfield 100-52 and Lebo defeated Victoria 46-40.
Central Christian trailed 32-28 at halftime. Axtell pushed its lead to 50-35 heading into the final period and outscored the Cougars 18-9 in the fourth quarter.
Cal Barnett led the Central Christian Cougars with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Luke Eigsti added 11 points. Piercen Huff contributed 10 points and had 5 steals. Cael Kooiman scored 6 points and Adam Eigsti 1.
Axtell was led in scoring by Wyatt Detweiler with 22 points. Logan Sandmann added 15 points and 8 rebounds. Joseph Lybarger scored 9 points and Landon Schultz 7. Colin Shaugnessy scored 6 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out 8 assists and had 4 steals.
The Central Christian Cougar boys, the No. 8 seed at the state tournament, finished the season with a 13-14 record.
The Hutchinson Central Christian girls basketball team (22-2), ranked No. 1 in Class 1A Division II and the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A Division II state tournament, will play No. 8 Wallace County-Sharon Springs (11-12) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Salina.
The Central Christian/Wallace County girls winner will advance to the 6 p.m. girls semifinal game Thursday at White Auditorium.
