A refresher on new-look Kansas high school basketball state tournament schedule
Kansas high school basketball fans will see a dramatically different look to the state tournament this postseason.
For the first time in decades, the state tournament format has been overhauled with KSHSAA aiming to improve the atmosphere and overall experience for teams, fans and host sites. Instead of each class playing its entire state tournament at one traditional location, this year’s bracket will be split across multiple sites and several days.
The biggest change comes in the opening round.
The quarterfinals are being moved up to Tuesday and Wednesday with KSHSAA assigning teams into regional pods without regard to classification or gender, meaning one site could host a mix such as Class 2A girls, Class 3A boys and Class 4A girls all on the same day.
There are a total of seven different sites located in Dodge City, Emporia, Kansas City, Salina and Wichita. Those 56 quarterfinal games were assigned by the KSHSAA office based primarily on proximity to the higher seed. If the lower seed would need to travel more than 250 miles to the assigned site, the game will be moved to a more centrally located site.
After the quarterfinal round, the rest of the tournament shifts to four main venues: Class 6A and 5A at Koch Arena in Wichita, Class 4A and 3A in Hutchinson Sports Arena, Class 2A and Class 1A Division II at White Auditorium in Emporia and Class 1A Division I at United Wireless Arena in Dodge City.
Thursday will be for semifinals, while Friday will feature a mix of semifinals and third-place games. Saturday will wrap up the tournament with third-place games and championship games.
The new setup came after support emerged for combining classes at the state tournament, beginning with regional administrator meetings in October 2023. Host sites also backed the concept with many indicating that trying to stage eight games a day for four straight days while hosting both boys and girls quarterfinals for multiple classes would be difficult.
So instead of the old one-site, one-class format, this year’s tournament will use a more spread-out opening round before bringing the remaining teams together at shared sites for the final three days. For fans, the result will be a postseason that looks much different from the one Kansas basketball has known for years.
Tuesday’s Kansas high school state basketball schedule
Dodge City (at United Wireless Arena)
1A-II boys: No. 4 Cunningham (16-8) vs. No. 5 Weskan (16-8), 6 p.m.
1A-I boys: No. 4 South Central (20-4) vs. No. 5 Kiowa County (20-6), 8
Emporia (at White Auditorium)
3A boys: No. 3 Burlington (22-4) vs. No. 6 Olathe Heritage (18-8), noon
1A-II boys: No. 1 Axtell (25-1) vs. No. 8 Hutchinson Central Christian (13-13), 2 p.m.
1A-II boys: No. 3 Lebo (19-7) vs. No. 6 Victoria (17-9), 4
4A girls: No. 4 Topeka Hayden (19-6) vs. No. 5 Andale (17-6), 6
5A boys: No. 3 Topeka West (22-3) vs. No. 6 Kansas City Piper (18-7), 8
Kansas City (at Kansas City Community College)
4A girls: No. 3 Eudora (21-3) vs. No. 6 Bishop Miege (17-8), 2 p.m.
2A girls: No. 3 St. Mary’s Colgan (23-2) vs. No. 6 Sacred Heart (22-4), 4
5A boys: No. 2 Bonner Springs (24-1) vs. No. 7 Kansas City Washington (17-8), 6
6A girls: No. 3 Shawnee Mission South (21-3) vs. No. 6 Blue Valley North (20-5), 8
Salina (at Kansas Wesleyan)
1A-1 boys: No. 2 Beloit St. John’s-Tipton (21-2) vs. No. 7 Flinthills (17-8), 4 p.m.
1A-II boys: No. 2 Hanover (25-1) vs. No. 7 Deerfield (16-9), 6
1A-I boys: No. 1 Central Plains (24-2) vs. No. 8 Canton-Galva (17-8), 8
Salina (at Tony’s Pizza Events Center)
2A girls: No. 4 Eureka (22-2) vs. No. 5 Oakley (22-4), noon
2A girls: No. 1 Ellinwood (25-1) vs. No. 8 Rossville (15-10), 2 p.m.
3A boys: No. 4 Holcomb (21-5) vs. No. 5 Silver Lake (20-6), 4
2A girls: No. 2 Moundridge (23-2) vs. No. 7 Valley Heights (19-7), 6
4A girls: No. 2 Rock Creek (22-3) vs. No. 7 Chapman (16-9), 8
Wichita (at Garvey Center)
1A-I boys: No. 3 Norwich (22-4) vs. No. 6 Rural Vista (16-7), 2 p.m.
4A girls: No. 1 Wellington (22-1) vs. No. 8 Concordia (14-9), 4
3A boys: No. 2 Hesston (24-2) vs. No. 7 Scott City (14-9), 6
3A boys: No. 1 Wichita Collegiate (24-1) vs. No. 8 Wellsville (14-12), 8
Wichita (at Koch Arena)
6A girls: No. 4 Wichita East (20-5) vs. No. 5 Olathe South (20-5), noon
6A girls: No. 1 Wichita Heights (24-0) vs. No. 8 Blue Valley Northwest (11-13), 2 p.m.
6A girls: No. 2 Derby (22-3) vs. No. 7 Topeka (17-8), 4
5A boys: No. 1 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (25-0) vs. No. 8 Shawnee Heights (17-8), 6
5A boys: No. 4 Maize South (21-4) vs. No. 5 Topeka Seaman (21-4)
Wednesday’s Kansas high school state basketball schedule
Dodge City (at United Wireless Arena)
1A-II girls: No. 3 Bucklin (21-2) vs. No. 6 Dighton (21-4), 4 p.m.
3A girls: No. 3 Holcomb (24-2) vs. No. 6 Ellsworth (17-6), 6
4A boys: No. 4 Hugoton (21-4) vs. No. 5 Andale (18-5), 8
Emporia (at White Auditorium)
3A girls: No. 2 Silver Lake (25-1) vs. No. 7 Hesston (17-9), 6 p.m.
3A girls: No. 4 Osage City (23-3) vs. No. 5 Girard (19-6), 8
Kansas City (at Kansas City Community College)
4A boys: No. 2 Atchison (25-0) vs. No. 7 McPherson (16-9), noon
6A boys: No. 3 Olathe North (21-4) vs. No. 6 Derby (19-6), 2 p.m.
5A girls: No. 3 Shawnee Heights (21-4) vs. No. 6 Basehor-Linwood (20-5), 4
6A boys: No. 1 Shawnee Mission South (24-1) vs. No. 8 Manhattan (17-7), 6
6A boys: No. 2 Mill Valley (22-3) vs. No. 7 Blue Valley North (19-6), 8
Salina (at Kansas Wesleyan)
1A-II girls: No. 1 Hutchinson Central Christian (24-2) vs. No. 8 Wallace County (11-12), 4 p.m.
1A-II girls: No. 4 Hanover (23-3) vs. No. 5 Marais des Cygnes Valley (22-4), 6
1A-I girls: No. 3 Wabaunsee (23-3) vs. No. 6 South Gray (20-5), 8
Salina (at Tony’s Pizza Events Center)
1A-I girls: No. 4 Centralia (22-3) vs. No. 5 Quinter (22-4), noon
2A boys: No. 4 Thomas More Perp (20-5) vs. No. 5 St. Marys (19-7), 2 p.m.
1A-I girls: No. 1 Little River (24-2) vs. No. 8 Central Plains (18-8), 4
4A boys: No. 1 Rock Creek (25-0) vs. No. 8 Eudora (13-11), 6
5A girls: No. 2 Hays (23-1) vs. No. 7 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (19-6), 8
Wichita (at Garvey Center)
1A-I girls: No. 2 Pretty Prairie (22-2) vs. No. 7 Hodgeman County (20-6), noon
2A boys: No. 3 Wichita Classical (20-4) vs. No. 6 St. Mary’s Colgan (18-7), 2 p.m.
2A boys: No. 2 Berean (22-2) vs. No. 7 Rossville (17-7), 4
4A boys: No. 3 Pratt (21-3) vs. No. 6 Baldwin (19-6), 6
1A-II girls: No. 2 Argonia (22-2) vs. No. 7 Linn (21-5), 8
Wichita (at Koch Arena)
5A girls: No. 1 Andover (23-1) vs. No. 8 De Soto (15-10), noon
3A girls: No. 1 Halstead (25-0) vs. No. 8 Marysville (10-14), 2 p.m.
5A girls: No. 4 Maize South (21-4) vs. No. 5 St. James (20-5), 4
2A boys: No. 1 Sterling (25-0) vs. No. 8 Douglass (13-11), 6
6A boys: No. 4 Maize (20-5) vs. No. 5 Wichita Heights (19-5), 8
This story was originally published March 8, 2026 at 6:17 PM.
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