Burrton senior sets scoring record with 53
By RANDY GONZALES
It was the Alex Santiago Show in Tuesday's first round of the Class 1A State Championships.
Santiago, a 6-foot senior guard for Burrton, broke the boys' scoring record at state -- for all classes -- scoring 53 against Hanover.
But Burrton lost, 85-66, to Hanover at Gross Memorial Coliseum. In other first-round games, Baileyville-B&B edged Tribune-Greeley Co., 50-46, Montezuma-South Gray rallied past Macksville, 54-45, and Quinter held off Pretty Prairie, 63-55.
In Thursday's semifinals, Quinter (26-0) will play South Gray (25-1) at 4:45 p.m., and defending state champion Hanover (25-1) will play Baileyville-B&B (23-3) at 8:15 p.m.
Brewster's Josh Reid had the old 1A record, scoring 47 in 1996, also the best in all classes, until Tuesday. The 1A and all-class record on the girls' side is held by Claflin's Jackie Stiles, who also scored 53 as a freshman in 1994.
Like Stiles, Santiago's big night came in a loss. He scored all but 13 of the Chargers' points.
"He's one of those you hope you got on a cold night; sure wasn't tonight," Hanover coach Kim Lohse said. "Going into it, we had a game plan he was going to score, but we can't let any other player get above their average."
Santiago, who pushed the ball on nearly every possession, mixed in a deadly crossover dribble on drives to the hoop with accurate 3-point shooting.
"He can shoot from outside and also drive," Lohse said. "You can't play right up on him, because he's going to drive right around you. If you stay off him, he's going to shoot over the top of you."
Santiago had 17 points at halftime, but he was just getting warmed up. In the second half, he poured in 36 points.
"Feels good, great honor, great honor to come out here and perform that way at state," Santiago said. "No pressure. I'd much rather have the win. I would give another 53 points to move on to another round at state.
"I thank God for what He has given me, go out on the court and show everything," he added.
Santiago came into the game averaging 28 points this season. While Santiago said he had seen just about every kind of junk defense on him this year, Hanover played him straight up, man-to-man.
"We tried everything we could to play defense, but Santiago just went off," Lohse said. "I'll congratulate him, he's a heck of a ball player, but I didn't expect him to score 53 against us.
"I'd say he's probably the best player we've ever played against ..." he added.
Santiago broke the record with two free throws with 3:26 left in the game. He scored on a follow shot with 2:58 left for 51 points, then finished with 53 on a driving layup with 1:25 remaining in the game. With 44 seconds left, Santiago went to the bench to a standing ovation from fans of both teams.
"Right now, it doesn't feel so great; it's a loss," Santiago said. "I'm real proud of our guys, we didn't quit, came out, played real hard.
"I thank my teammates and coaches for helping me, supporting me throughout my four years," Santiago added.
Santiago finished 17-of-32 from the floor, including 6-of-13 from beyond the arc, and swished 13-of-14 free throws. He also had 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Hanover countered with a balanced offense. Four players scored in double figures, led by 15 points apiece from seniors Brady Bruna and Taylor Nicholson. The Wildcats shot 56 percent from the field for the game.
"Coming into this game, I knew we had to shoot the ball well to be successful," Lohse said.
Baileyville-B&B 50
Greeley Co. 46
In the closest game of the first round, B&B jumped out to a big lead, lost it, then came back to edge Greeley Co.
The game was tied at 46 with two minutes left. B&B senior guard Ryan Huerter was fouled with 1:14 remaining and made both free throws for a 48-46 lead.
Greeley Co. had several chances to tie. A foul on a drive to the basket gave the Jackrabbits the ball out of bounds. Senior Isaac Wilson's jumper in the lane was blocked, but Greeley Co. kept possession, then Wilson was fouled on another drive to the hoop, with the ball again out of bounds with 13 seconds left.
Wilson's shot in the lane was blocked by junior Logan Haug, and B&B senior Kyle Haverkamp got the ball and was fouled. Haverkamp made both foul shots with six seconds on the clock to give the Falcons a 50-46 lead.
Haverkamp led B&B with 17 points, while sophomore Eric Huerter scored 15. Haug finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Greeley Co. (24-2) got 11 points each from Wilson and senior Kellum Schneider. Junior Stephen Houston added 10 points for the Jackrabbits.
South Gray 54
Macksville 45
South Gray, despite 21 of senior Chase Clancy's 31 points in the first half, trailed Macksville 31-27 at halftime.
Macksville (22-4) still led 40-38 after three quarters. But South Gray got 3-pointers from senior Ricky Friesen and junior Austin Love early in the fourth quarter to spark the Rebels. South Gray outscored Macksville 16-5 in the final eight minutes.
After Clancy's 31 points, no other Rebel scored in double figures. Macksville got 16 points from senior Evan Loomis, including 13 in the first half.