For most high school basketball teams in Kansas, the season is over.

The Seabury Academy boys are not one of those teams.

With a 58-42 victory over Waverly Saturday night at St. Paul, the Seahawks won their Class 1A-Division I sub-state championship game. That earned them a spot at the state tournament, in Emporia, where they will face Ashland at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

The excitement surrounding Seabury, coach Ashley Battles said, had been gaining momentum with the onset of the postseason, and now the Seahawks can put a check mark by one of their season-long goals.

“There was a lot of pressure on us, because we have a lot of talent,” Battles said, “and getting to state was something that we felt like we had to do. We had to get there.”

Sophomore guard Khadre Lane, who scored 20 points in the Seahawks’ sub-state title win, said everyone at Seabury Academy is excited about the team’s progress, and even though the players expected to advance to state, that doesn’t take away from the significance of the accomplishment.

“We’re excited to be the only school in Lawrence still playing,” Lane said. “It’s kind of like we’ve got to win it for our city now, I guess.”

Georgi Funtarov, who scored 12 points against Waverly, said the Seahawks had high expectations even before playing their first game back in December.

“For other people it might be a surprise that we’d be here at this point of the season,” Funtarov said, adding that the players are eager for their first-round match-up at state.

With a 13-10 record, Seabury enters the tournament as the No. 8 seed. That means the Seahawks have possibly the toughest draw, the No. 1 seed Ashland Blue Jays, who will bring a flawless 23-0 record with them to Emporia’s White Auditorium.

Battles said facing the No. 1 team in 1A-DI won’t be easy — “It’s a team that’s undefeated, and would probably beat a lot of teams in the state of Kansas,” the second-year Seabury coach said.

Still, Battles expects his eight-player rotation of Lane, Funtarov, Thomas Diaz, Garrett Gillett, Jesse May, Marcus Allen, Aaron Lock and Fischer Almanza to be up for the challenge.

“Now guys are excited, but they’re very loose,” Battles said. “Everything after this is gravy for us.”

However, Lane said he and his teammates have heard a lot of talk around school of fans expecting them to win a state championship. It might be hard to stay loose with that buzz.

“That puts a lot of pressure on us,” Lane said. “But I guess we need pressure to bring out the best in us.”

There have been plenty of congratulations to go around, too. Funtarov said Seabury’s sub-state title was an important step, but the Seahawks realize it is time to move on.

“We know we’ve got to start focusing and get ready for the next game,” the senior forward said, “because if you don’t win now, it won’t matter what we’ve done so far.”

In other first-round games Wednesday at Emporia, No. 2 seed Downs Lakeside (22-1) faces No. 7 Burrton (16-7), No. 3 Udall plays No. 6 Centralia (18-6) and No. 4 Montezuma South Gray (19-4) takes on No. 5 Hoxie (18-4).

If the Seahawks are able to knock off Ashland, they will play either South Gray or Hoxie at 4:45 p.m. Friday in a semifinal.