NORWICH – St. John first-year boys basketball coach Danton Hilton nearly pulled it off.
The No. 7 seeded St. John Tigers lost 41-38 to Pratt Skyline in the 1A Division Norwich basketball substate. The Tigers (9-14) upset No. 2 seed Macksville and No. 3 seed Pretty Prairie to advance to Saturday’s championship game. Skyline (14-6) will play No. 1 ranked South Gray (21-0) in the 1A quarterfinals.
The Thunderbirds held off the Tigers by converting their final 10 points at the free throw line. The Tigers will be coached to block off the free throw shooter after losing momentum when Skyline four points after the shooter rebounded his own miss.
St. John led 32-31 when Eliazar Carrasco converted a free throw and three more free throws after getting fouled on a 3-pointer for a 35-32 lead. Ryan Miller added a bonus free throw for a 37-34 lead after Elijah Delp made two free throws. Nathan Adams made two free throws and Carrasco and Miller each added a free throw for the final clinching points. Carrasco scored 12 points and Tyler Wray added 11 points.
St. John’s Hunter Smith scored nine points and Edwin Fernandez and Uriel Calleros each added eight points.
St. John 13 5 7 13 – 38
Skyline 10 9 6 16 – 41
ST. JOHN (9-14)—Smith 9, Fernandez 8, Calleros 8, Dunn 7, Delp 4, Woolf 2
SKYLINE (14-6)—Carrasco 12, Wray 11, Miller 9, Temanson 6, Adams 3
ST. JOHN 61, PRETTY PRAIRIE 58, OT
NORWICH — St. John's Hunter Smith rescued the Tigers in overtime with six free throws to spark a 61-58 victory over Pretty Prairie in Friday's 1A substate basketball semifinal. Edwin Fernandez converted a 3-pointer in the extra period. The Tigers played overtime without 6-foot-6 Elijah Delp, who fouled out after blocking a game-tying attempt.
Pretty Prairie's Bryan Steadman converted two free throws to send the game to overtime at 52-52. Delp scored back-to-back baskets for a 52-48 lead, but the Tigers missed two free throws and committed a turnover. Bulldog Dustin Saft scored before Steadman's tying free throws.
Smith scored a career high 23 points and converted four 3-pointers. Delp scored 10 points. Edwin Fernandez scored nine points and Uriel Calleros and Preston Dunn added eight apiece. The Tigers converted 10 of 30 3-pointers.
Lucas Detter scored 21 points, but missed seven of his final eight shots. Dustin Saft scored 15 points. The Bulldogs converted 6 of 15 3-pointers.
The No. 7 seeded Tigers (8-13) has upset No. 2 seeded Macksville and No. 3 seeded Pretty Prairie to reach the finals..
The Tigers sprinted to a 17-10 first-quarter lead fueled by a pair of 3-pointers by Hunter Smith. The Bulldogs spun the momentum with a 12-0 scoring run keyed by a trio of 3-pointers by Blake Stucky.
St. John 17 12 11 12 9 — 61
Pretty Prairie 10 20 12 10 6 — 58
ST. JOHN (9-13)—Smith 6-13 7-10 23, Delp 5-8 0-1 10, Fernandez 3-9 0-0 9, Dunn 4-8 0-2 8, Calleros 3-11 0-3 8, Adame 1-2 0-0 2, Woolf 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 22-52 7-16 61
PRETTY PRAIRIE (13-7)—Detter 7-17 4-6 21, Saft 7-12 1-4 15, Bryan Steadman 4-15 3-4 11, Stucky 3-7 0-0 9, Totals 22-53 8-15 58
3-pointers—SJ 10-30 (Smith 4-8, Fernandez 3-8, Calleros 2-9, Adame 1-1, Delp 0-1, Woolf 0-1, Dunn 0-2), PP 6-15 (Detter 3-5, Stucky 3-6, Saft 0-1, Steadman 0-3)
MONDAY'S 1A DIV. 1 BOYS QUARTERFINALS
Pratt Skyline 14-6 at South Gray 21-0
Stockton 10-11 at Ness City 15-7
Clifton-Clyde 19-2 at Little River 20-1
Olpe 14-3 at Wichita Classical 17-3
1—INGALLS—Ness City 67, Quinter 60; Ness City 69, Hodgeman County 67; Quinter 48, LaCrosse 38; Hodgeman County 50, Ingalls 49; Quinter 63, Kinsley 38; LaCrosse 56, Victoria 31
2—OSBORNE—Stockton 45, Osborne 38; Stockton 59, Rock Hills 44; Osborne 51, Lakeside 49; Stockton 62, Rawlins County 51; Osborne 76, Oberlin 42; Lakeside 61, Thunder Ridge 34
3—GREENSBURG—South Gray 73, Meade 44; South Gray 69, Bucklin 27; Meade 61, Kiowa County 39; Bucklin 59, Satanta 40; Meade 59, Minneola 50; Kiowa County 40, South Central 34
4—NORWICH—Skyline 41, St. John 38; St. John 61, Pretty Prairie 58, OT; Skyline 60, Norwich 58; Skyline 58, Caldwell 46; St. John 42, Macksville 32; Pretty Prairie 68, Fairfield 48
5—CANTON—Little River 75, Solomon 39; Little River 58, Goessel 38; Solomon 61, Sylvan-Lucas 57; Goessel 69, Canton-Galva 55; Sylvan-Lucas 67, Lincoln 39; Solomon 70, Hope Rural Vista 59, 2 OT
6—CENTRALIA—Clifton-Clyde 46, Frankfort 32; Clifton-Clyde 61, Centralia 46; Frankfort 56, Troy 42; Centralia 60, Doniphan West 48; Frankfort 61, Onaga 41; Troy 65, Jackson Heights 57
7—MADISON—Olpe 43, Madison-Hamilton 27; Olpe 54, Burlingame 26; Madison/Hamilton 44, Lebo 41; Burlingame 55, Topeka Cair Paravel 54; Madison/Hamilton 67, Crest 37
8—ROSALIA—Wichita Classical 70, Flinthills 51; Wichita Classical 50, Oxford 18; Flinthills 65, Burden Central 52; Oxford 62, Oswego 52; Flinthills 61, Udall 60
