Riding the momentum of a thrilling district championship, Winfield-Mt. Union boys basketball is back at it Saturday with a state tournament bid on the line. The Wolves square off with Holy Trinity Catholic in the Class 1A Substate 5 finals, and it all goes down on KCII.

Fifth-ranked WMU earned the right to play this weekend by storming back to beat Burlington Notre Dame Tuesday night. Down by as many as 14 in the second half, the Wolves would tie the game late and take the lead on a pair of Abram Edwards free throws. Edwards notched another double-double while Cam Buffington scored 26 off 11/17 shooting. The Wolves average more than 62 points per game and are giving up just 34. An efficient WMU offense is shooting 49% from the floor, 31% beyond the arc, and 53% from the free throw line. They’ve used their size to go for 33 rebounds per game in addition to 20 assists, 11 steals, and 5 blocks.

Holy Trinity Catholic represents the fourth-consecutive Super Conference South team that the Wolves have met in the postseason, entering Saturday at 19-5. The Crusaders’ playoff path has seen them move past Tri-County, Moravia, and North Mahaska. Luke Hellige, 1A’s fourth-highest scorer this season, went for 24 points in their most recent win. Hellige’s averaging 24.2 points per game for an offense scoring 65 per contest. Collectively, the Crusaders have the third-best field goal percentage in their class in addition to the third-most assists. These two teams met back in December with Winfield-Mt. Union taking it 55-40. The Wolves have won the last three meetings, with the most recent Holy Trinity Catholic win coming in 2021. 

You can listen to Winfield-Mt. Union compete for its first state tournament berth since 1996 on all KCII streams and signals Saturday night. Pregame coverage kicks things off at 6:30 p.m. with opening tip between the Wolves and Crusaders at 7 live from Fairfield High School.