A member of the Hi-Plains High School state championship basketball team was killed Thursday when a retaining wall he was helping build gave way, falling on him.

Evan Bancroft, 17, was trapped under a concrete wall, Kit Carson County Sheriff Ed Raps said Friday.

Bancroft was working with a construction crew at County Road N and County Road 44, southwest of Burlington, building a retaining wall for a loading ramp, Raps said.

Rescuers raised the wall enough to extract Bancroft, who was transported to the Kit Carson County Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m., about 21/2 hours after the accident.

Hi-Plains completed an undefeated season March 15 by defeating No. 2 Caliche to win the Colorado Class A boys basketball championship. Bancroft made a key steal in the final minutes to help seal the win.

Bancroft also was on the Hi-Plains team that finished second in the state in 2007.