The 2021-2022 winter postseason for high school sports in the state of Missouri is completely underway as teams either put together finishing touches on state tournament berths or they pack up their gear and look forward to next year.

While not all of basketball districts containing Cass County teams were complete by this week’s press deadline, Cass County has at least one basketball team that has officially punched its ticket to next week’s Missouri High School Activities Association’s state basketball tournament.

The Drexel High School Lady Cats basketball team earned its ticket to next week’s MHSHAA Class 1 state tournament after compiling an 16-9 regular season record and then winning all three games in the Class 1, District 6 tournament to win the district championship.

The Lady Cats opened district play last Saturday with a 44-25 victory over Miami in the district opener before downing Hume 44-27 in the semifinals, setting up a district championship showdown against Rich Hill on Saturday night.

The Lady Cats needed overtime in the championship game, but they were able to come away with the 1-point, 56-55 victory and are now working on fine tuning their game for a showdown against Golden City on Tuesday in the Class 1 state tournament.

The Raymore-Peculiar boys saw their 2021-22 season come to an end in the opening round of the Class 6, District 6 tournament when they lost 54-40 to Raytown.

The Panthers opened last week falling 49-34 Raytown and finished the season with a 10-16 record.

The Lady Panthers also saw their season come to an end in the opening round of the Class 6, District 6 tournament as they saw their season ended after a 43-39 defeat at the hands of Kansas City Truman.

The Lady Panthers opened last week falling for the 19^th time on the year, dropping a 54-32 contest against Park Hill on Wednesday to complete their regular season before falling to Truman to complete their season this past Monday night. The Ray-Pec girls ended the campaign with a 6-20 record.

The Belton High School Pirate boys basketball team saw its season come to a close in the opening round of Missouri Class 6, District 6 tournament as the Pirates fell 64-53 at the hands of Lee’s Summit West. The Belton boys finished the season with a 13-15 record.

The Lady Pirates also saw their season come to an end in the 1^st round of districts as the Belton girls met up with Lee’s Summit North in the opening round, but suffered a 54-22 defeat, ended their 2021-22 season with a 4-22 record. The Lady Pirates opened last week falling 50-20 to Grain Valley and then fell 67-25 against Raytown South on Wednesday leading into the district tournament.

The Harrisonville Wildcat boys took a 5-21 record into their district opener against Nevada this past Monday. The Harrisonville boys saw their 2021-22 season come to an end Monday night against Nevada as they dropped a 49-32 contest against Nevada to end their season with a 5-22 record.

The Wildcats entered district play on a losing trend as they opened last week falling 54-48 to Pleasant Hill on Tuesday and also fell 74-59 against Louisburg on Thursday.

The Lady Wildcats took a 4-game winning streak into their district opener that was played this past Tuesday against Clinton, who won its district opener 49-46 over Pleasant Hill on Monday night. The Lady Wildcats, who opened last week with that fourth consecutive win when they defeated Pleasant Hill 50-26 on Tuesday, district opener was played after the Journal went to press.

The Archie High School basketball teams saw their seasons come to an end this past week as the Whirlwind boys ended their 2021-22 campaign with a 16-10 record after going 1-1 in the Class 2, District 14 tournament.

The Whirlwind boys opened district play last Monday with a 58-44 victory over Kansas City Lutheran on Monday but saw their season come to an end in the 2^nd round when they lost a 53-41 contest against Crest Ridge.

The Lady Whirlwinds, meanwhile, played their way into the championship game, but still saw their season fall one game shy of the Class 2 state tournament.

The Lady Whirlwinds opened district play two Saturday’s ago when they scored a 57-15 win over Crest Ridge in the district opener. The Archie girls then earned a spot in the championship game with a 61-35 victory over Lakland this past Tuesday in the semifinals, sending them to a championship tilt against Wellington-Napoleon.

Wellington-Napoleon, however, proved to be too much for the Lady Whirlwinds as the Archie High School girls saw their season end after a 58-43 loss. The Lady Whirlwinds finished the season with a 20-7 record.

The Drexel High School boys were not as fortunate as their female counterparts in the Class 1, District 6 tournament as they lost a 43-38 contest against Montrose in the opening round to see their season come to a halt after a 12-14 campaign.

The Midway High School boys and girls basketball teams saw their seasons come to an end in the Class 2, District 14 tournament.

The Viking boys saw their season end with an 11-15 record after getting eliminated by Wellington-Napoleon 65-51 in the opening round.

The Lady Vikings, meanwhile, saw their season come to an end after an 8-16 campaign as they fell 59-49 to Lakeland, also in the opening round of district play.

The Sherwood High School boys and girls basketball teams also saw their seasons come to an end in district play.

The Marksmen boys ended their campaign with a 1-23 record after getting eliminated by El Dorado Springs 56-24 in the opening round last Tuesday. The Lady Marksmen, meanwhile, played an extra round, compared to the Marksmen, as they won their Class 3, District 13 opener 48-45 against Butler but lost to Stockton in the semifinals 42-33 to see their season come to an end with a 14-11 record.

The Rooster boys of Pleasant Hill High School went into the Class 4, District 13 tournament riding a 2-game winning streak as they opened last week falling 62-60 against Clinton, but then bounced back to defeat Harrisonville 54-48 on Tuesday before closing the regular season with a 67-61 victory over Warrensburg. The Roosters opened district play this past Tuesday against Clinton, who defeated Knob Noster, to play their way into the district tournament semifinals where Pleasant Hill is the #2 seed. The Roosters’ district game, however, was played after the Journal went to press so the score was available at press time.

The Pleasant Hill Chicks, meanwhile, closed out their regular season falling 50-26 against Cass County rival Harrisonville before their district game against Clinton on Monday, where the Chicks saw their season come to an end after losing 49-46 against Clinton. The Pleasant Hill girls finished the season with a 7-15 overall record.