The WACO Warriors are looking to survive and advance in the high school boys’ basketball playoffs when they visit Holy Trinity Catholic in the Class 1A District 8 semifinals on KCII.

WACO defeated Danville 49-43 in the first round of the Substate 4 playoffs Monday night to improve their record to 18-5. The Warriors have been a solid all-around team, led by junior Christian Stacy’s over 19-and-a-half points per game.

Sophomore forward Holden Hughes has been a steady presence in the front court with nearly nine points and five rebounds per contest, while WACO has also been a stout defensive squad, allowing less than 48 points a game.

As the Warriors get ready to face Holy Trinity Catholic, head coach Chayse Roth tells KCII Sports that he believes his team has grown leaps and bounds from when they lost to the Crusaders in the season opener.

“I think we’re better than we were the first day [of the season],” Roth says. “I think I’m a better coach than I was the first game. We have a lot of athletes coming off the bench. We’ve known Holy Trinity pretty well. We’ve had a lot of matchups with them in the past, so it’s always fun to play them.”

“I know they have some really good players. We’re really familiar with them. We know what they’re going to try to do. It’s just going to come down to us being confident and understanding the game plan and trying to stop it.”

Holy Trinity’s 57-35 victory over WACO in December started a stellar season that now features an 18-5 record. Senior Luke Hellige is one of the highest scoring players in the state, pouring in a whopping 27 points per game for one of the best shooting teams in all of Class 1A.

The Warriors have dropped three straight to the Crusaders. You can hear WACO take on Holy Trinity Catholic in the District 8 semifinals exclusively streaming on KCIIradio.com in the KCII3 stream this evening starting with pregame coverage at 6:30.