The Hutchinson Central Christian High School girls basketball team placed fourth at the Kansas Class 1A Division II girls state tournament, losing to the Bucklin Red Aces 54-35 in the third-place game Saturday morning at Emporia’s William Allen White Auditorium.
The Cougars, who were ranked No. 1 in Kansas Class 1A for most of the 2025-26 campaign, finished the season with a 25-4 record.
Bucklin, which lost to Linn 55-49 in the semifinals Friday and defeated Dighton 55-35 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, posted a 23-3 record.
Bucklin led Hutchinson Central Christian 18-9 in the first quarter, 35-15 in the first half and 47-28 at the end of the third quarter. Both teams scored 7 points in the fourth quarter.
Central Christian, coached by D.J. Kauffman, suited up just eight players and got into foul trouble in the first quarter. It was the final game for seniors Jessa Losew, Lily Lang and Ava Newcome. Bucklin, which now has two third-place finishes at state, graduates seven seniors.
Losew, a 5-foot-8 senior who will compete in track and field at Wichita State University next year, scored 3 points in the loss to Bucklin. She passed the 1,000-point mark for her Cougar basketball career in the semifinals. She won the Class 1A state championship in the high jump in 2025.
Harper Newcome led the Cougars in scoring with 10 points and rebounds with 7. Ava Newcome scored 8 points, Townsly Huff 7, Resse Swanson 4 and Avery Duft 3. Swanson had 2 steals and 5 rebounds. Huff also had 5 rebounds. Lang and Addisyn Loudenback played but did not score.
The Cougars made just 23.7% of their field goal tries (9-of-38) while the Red Aces made 42.6% (20-of-47). Bucklin outrebounded Central Christian 35-26.
The Red Aces were led in scoring by Tristan Stout with 13 points. Isabel Bowman had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Emmerson Kirk had 9 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.
Rebecca Durler had 8 points and 4 rebounds. Karlee Evans had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Anya Hays had 4 points and 5 rebounds. Addison Hoffman added 2 points.
• Class 1A DII state boys championship game: Hanover 66, Axtell 60 — The Hanover Wildcats went on a 22-14 fourth-quarter run to defeat Axtell 66-60 in the Kansas Class 1A Division I boys state championship.
Cooper Bruna led Hanover with 22 points. Braylon Meyn had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jack Bruna had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Kadrick Cohorst had 7 points and 6 assists.
Logan Sandmann led Axtell with 22 points, 18 rebounds and 5 assists. Landon Schmitz and Colin Shaugnessy each scored 12 points, with Shaughnessy grabbing 9 rebounds. Wyatt Detweiler had 8 points and 8 rebounds. Clayton Heinen added 6 points.
Hanover posted a 28-1 record. Axtell finished with a 27-2 mark.
• Class 1A DII state girls championship game: Linn 57, Hanover 50 OT — The Linn High School girls basketball team defeated Hanover 57-50 in overtime to win the Kansas Class 1A Division II state championship.
Linn denied the Wildcats a state title sweep and a fourth straight 1A DII state championship.
The Linn Bulldogs outscored the Hanover Wildcats 11-4 in overtime to win the game. Linn led 18-7 after one quarter and 24-14 at halftime. Hanover outscored 32-22 in the second half to tie the score at 46-46 at the end of regulation.
Baileigh Peters led the Linn Bulldogs with 22 points, including 11-of-14 free throws. Gretchen Bott scored 16 points. Sophia Hiltgen added 6 points and 8 rebounds. Josie Oehmke also scored 6 points and Ella Oehmke added 5.
Drew Bruna led Hanover with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Leigha Jueneman scored 8 points. Nora Heiman made 6-of-6 free throws for her 6 points. Kennedy Cohorst and Gracie Bruna each scored 5 points, Einslee Stallbaumer 4 and Trinity Schlabach 3. Gracie Bruna had 4 steals.
Linn finished the season with a 24-5 record and Hanover finished 25-2.
