The De Soto High School boys’ basketball team season came to a complete close on Saturday night. The Sub-State tournament, held at DHS, finished play on Saturday night.

The tournament began on Friday evening, when the Sumner Academy Sabres defeated the Bishop Miege Stags 55-49 and advanced to the finals.

Following that game, DHS took on Bonner Springs High School, and the Wildcats came out victorious over the Braves with a final score of 63-53.

On Saturday, Sumner and De Soto squared off in the Sub-State finals. The Wildcats fell to the Sabres, 73-65. Sumner will advance to the State tournament in Salina after the win.

The game was a back and forth battle, but the Wildcats were unable to pull out a victory. It was a neck-and-neck affair for most of the game, with the Sabres pulling away towards the end.

Junior forward Dalton Verhulst led in scoring for the Wildcats, and provided much of the team’s offense, while the other players were having a tough time getting shots to fall.

This marks the end of the season for the Wildcats, who will lose senior starters Luke Stenzel, Max Taulbee, Eric Williams and Quinton Verhulst for next year’s team. Head coach Matt Rice still believes the season went well.

“They did for the most part what I asked for them to do. We lost a few games that, had a few possessions gone our way, we could have won,” Rice said.

The team finishes with a final record of 8-14, including postseason play.