By JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

MANHATTAN — The No. 1 ranked St. John Tigers roared ahead 28-4 after one quarter and coasted past Ellis 83-41 in the Class 2A state basketball tournament. The Tigers led 52-11 at halftime behind a dominating performance.
All-stater Dean Wade scored 30 points and dished out four assists. Gera Calleros netted 12 points. Quincy Smith scored 10 points. Point guard Cole Kinnamon dished out five assists and scored nine points.
The Tigers (24-0) will play in Friday’s 8:15 p.m. semifinals at Bramlage Coliseum.
Kinnamon said freshman Quincy Smith and Triston Long performed solidly off the bench.
“We were locked in pretty good defensively that first half,” said St. John coach Clint Kinnamon. “Our young guys did a good job coming in pretty focused. They had a little bit of nerves, which is expected. I was happy to get those guys in a state tournament. That’s a memory I never had as a player. When our JV guys do something, our guys really get excited. They like to see them have success. They like each other and support each other.”
The Tigers started in a zone defense and virtually shut down Ellis the first half. Easton Smith scored 11 points and Eli Lohrmyer scored 10 points. Ellis (18-6) had 20 offensive rebounds to score 41 points.
ST. JOHN 83, ELLIS 41
Ellis 4 7 11 19 — 41
St. John 28 24 20 11 — 83
Ellis—Smith 5-13 1-1 11; Lohrmeyer 2-14 6-8 10; Brenner 3-11 1-2 7; Pfeifer 2-3 0-0 4; Eck 0-1 0-0 0; Herl 3-5 0-0 6; Fike 0-6 0-0 0; Bollig 1-4 0-2 3; Towns 0-8 0-0 0; Totals 16-65 8-13 41.
St. John—Dean Wade 9-11 11-12 30; Gera Calleros 5-8 0-0 12; Jorge Calleros 1-2 2-2 4; Kinnamon 3-4 1-1 9;  Quincy Smith 4-6 1-2 10; Long 2-4 0-2 4; Neri-Leon 2-4 0-0 4; Fisher 1-2 2-2 4; Valenzuela 0-3 0-0 0; Milton 3-4 0-0 6; Totals 30-52 17-21 83.