HAYS – One day after pushing the eventual state champion South Gray, the St. John Tigers showed why they were the second-best basketball in Class 1A Division 1.
The Tigers showed off perfect offensive teamwork with 15 assists and 55 percent shooting off 27 of 49 field goals. The Tigers held Centralia to 37 percent shooting.
The Tigers buried Centralia 81-49 behind a dominating performance from Chase Fisher, who scored 23 points with a trio of 3-pointers. Also scoring in double figures were Tanner Halling (12), Mason Osborne (11) and Quincy Smith (10).
Osborne continued his late-season excellence with six assists and key defensive play. One night after Osborne shut down South Gray’s high-scoring Clifton Miller, who scored 24 points in South Gray’s 65-54 championship victory over Hanover. South Gray’s all-stater Gilbert scored 23 points.
The Tigers finished with a 30-3 postseason record the past six seasons. The Tigers have earned six state basketball titles, two runner-up trophies and captured its third third-place state trophy.
St. John (19-6) lost three times to 2A state champion Central Plains, twice to 2A substate runner-up Macksville and once to 1A state champion South Gray 43-37 in Friday’s semifinals.
Centralia 4 11 15 19 – 49
St. John 18 18 19 26 – 81
CENTRALIA (16-10)—Flentie 3-6 2-4 10, Haverkamp 1-5 2-4 4, Boeckman 1-4 0-0 2, Hasenkamp 3-6 2-5 8, Steinlage 3-8 6-8 13, Rempe 2-6 1-2 7, Slater 1-1 0-0 2, DAmbrosio 0-1 0-0 0, Anrold 0-1 0-0 0, VanDorn 1-1 1-1 3, Ferron 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 15-40 14-24 49.
ST. JOHN (19-6)—Chase Fisher 8-10 4-4 23, Tanner Halling 5-6 2-2 12, Osborne 2-5 5-6 11, Smith 3-9 4-5 10, Witt 1-2 3-4 5, Calleros 4-6 0-0 9, Trey Fisher 0-2 0-2 0, Miller 1-1 0-0 2, McVey 0-1 2-2 2, Collin Halling 0-2 0-0 0, Guo 1-2 0-0 2, Ibarra 2-3 1-2 5, Totals 27-49 21-27 81.
3-pointers—C 5-14 (Flentie 2-4, Rempe 2-5, Steinlage 1-2, Boeckman 0-1, Haverkamp 0-2); SJ 6-9 (C. Fisher 3-3, Osborne 2-3, Calleros 1-1, Smith 0-2). Rebounds—C 25 (Becker 5); SJ 32 (T. Halling 8). Assists—C 5 (Haverkamp 2); SJ 15 (Osborne 6). Steals—C 6; SJ 8 (Witt 2, Smith 2). TO—SJ 11, C 17.
