BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
DODGE CITY — Supersub Uriel Calleros delivered a spark with 12 points for the St. John Tigers, who cruised past Frankfort 59-38 in Wednesday's 1A state basketball tournament.
The Tigers led 31-9 at halftime by holding Frankfort to 2 of 22 shooting, 0 of 7 on 3-pointers from an aggressive zone defense. Calleros and Tanner Halling each scored nine first-half points as the Tigers converted 13 of 22 field goals.
"Uriel came in and did a great job. Defensively, we were really locked in the first half," said St. John coach Clint Kinnamon. "Frankfort has excellent shooters and we did a tremendous job getting to those guys. Anytime, you penetrate into the lane, you're going into a lot of length. Tanner Halling and Elijah Delp altered some shots."
The 6-7 Halling blocked five shots 6-7 Elijah Delp teamed for terrific inside defense. The Tigers held Frankfort to 2 of 16 shooting from 3-point range.
Halling dominated inside with 15 points in 18 minutes. Calleros scored 12 points and Joel Ortiz added 11 points. Trey Fisher's lob to Halling was the Tigers' best pass among 13 assists. Elijah Delp grabbed 10 rebounds with two steals. Marshall Woolf grabbed seven rebounds.
Frankfort (16-10) connected on 12 of 30 second-half shots in a 29-point second half. Gavin Cornelison scored nine points and Garret Dalinghaus added seven points.
"We weren't locked in as well defensively that second half," Kinnamon said. "They made some shots and we gave up looks to guys who are great shooters that second half. But we got everyone in and those guys will always remember they played in the state basketball tournament."
The Tigers pushed the lead to 30 points at 53-23 before getting outscored 15-6 down the stretch.
St. John is 12-1 all-time in first-round state games. The Tigers’ senior class is guaranteed two runner-up state finishes (2017, 2019), a third-place finish (2018) and another top four finish. The Tigers lost 40-28 to Central Plains in last year's 1A state championship game.
The Tigers (22-3) ride a 13-game winning streak against Little River (22-3) in Friday’s 4:45 p.m. game at Dodge City. Little River cruised past St. Francis 65-46 as Trey Rolfs and Jayden Garrison each scored 22 points.
St. John coach Kinnamon (364-100) owns four state basketball titles, three runner-up finishes and a pair of third-place finishes in 10 state trips. The Tigers captured state basketball titles in 1974, 1982, 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Frankfort 4 5 10 19 — 38
St. John 14 17 9 19 — 59
FRANKFORT (16-10)—Cornelison 4-9 0-0 9, G. Dalinghaus 2-7 3-4 7, Armstrong 1-4 4-8 6, Brandt 2-2 1-1 5, Gros 2-8 0-0 4, Gertstner 1-13 0-0 3, Rogers 1-5 0-1 2, C. Dalinghaus 0-2 0-0 0, Schreiner 1-1 0-0 2, Stowell 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 14-52 8-14 38.
ST. JOHN (22-3)—Tanner Halling 7-8 1-1 15, Uriel Calleros 4-7 3-3 12, Joel Ortiz 4-7 3-3 11, Marshall Woolf 3-7 0-2 7, Trey Fisher 2-5 3-4 7, Elijah Delp 2-4 0-2 4, Edwin Fernandez 1-1 1-2 3, Toby Woolf 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 23-41 11-17 58.
3-pointers—F 2-16 (Cornelison 1-1, Gerstner 1-10, Rogers 0-2, C. Dalinghaus 0-1, G. Dalinghaus 0-2), SJ 2-4 (M. Woolf 1-1, Calleros 1-2, Delp 0-1). Rebounds—F 25 (Gros 5), SJ 38 (Delp 10). Assists—F 11 (Armstrong 3), SJ 13 (Fisher 4). Steals—F 10 (Cornelison 4), SJ 10 (Calleros 3). TO—F 14, SJ 21.
Little River 21 15 16 13 — 65
St. Francis 11 8 22 5 — 46
ST. FRANCIS (15-8)—Baxter 9-16 0-0 18, Krien 4-8 0-0 8, Dinkel 3-4 0-0 7, Neitzel 2-2 1-2 5, Witzel 2-7 0-0 5, Busse 1-2 0-0 3, Totals 21-39 1-2 46.
LITTLE RIVER (22-3)—Rolfs 10-17 0-1 22, Garrison 9-15 4-9 22, Richardson 2-4 0-0 5, Lafferty 2-7 2-2 7, Konen 4-7 0-0 9, Totals 27-50 2-5 46.
3-pointers—SF 3-11 (Dinkel 1-1, Busse 1-2, Witzel 1-6, Krien 0-2); LR 9-26 (Garrison 4-9, Rolfs 2-8, Konen 1-2, Richardson 1-3, Lafferty 1-4). Rebounds—SF 22 (Baxter 8), LR 22 (Garrison 10). Assists—SF 18 (Busse 5), LR 15 (Garrison 6). Steals—SF 5, LR 12 (Rolfs 4). TO—SF 18, LR 11.
Stockton 9 7 4 18 — 38
Berean 4 3 14 12 — 33
STOCKTON (15-11)—Means 5-11 2-3 14, Miller 2-10 1-1 7, Coleman 0-6 6-8 6, Hamel 1-6 0-0 3, Conyac 0-2 0-0 0, Rogers 1-1 3-4 6, Coffey 1-3 0-0 2, Totals 10-39 12-18 38.
BEREAN (23-1)—Wiebe 6-16 0-0 16, Landis 2-7 0-0 6, Koontz 3-8 0-0 9, Dugger 0-2 0-0 0, Timken 0-1 0-0 0, Snook 0-1 0-0 0, Thiessen 0-3 1-4 1, Totals 11-38 2-6 33.
3-pointers—S 6-19 (Means 2-5, Miller 2-7, Rogers 1-1, Hamel 1-3, Coleman 0-3), B 9-24 (Weiebe 4-9, Koontz 3-6, Landis 2-7, Dugger 0-1, Timken 0-1). Rebounds—S 33 (Means 10), B 29 (Dugger 6). Assists—S 7 (Means 3), B 8 (Landis 4). Steals— S 3, B 5 (Wiebe 2, Hoover 2). TO—S 12, B 13.
South Central 10 12 8 11 — 41
Lebo 7 10 10 11 — 38
SOUTH CENTRAL (21-5)—Frazier 9-14 4-4 23, Girk 1-2 4-8 6, Snyder 1-5 0-0 2, Alexander 3-7 1-2 8, Moore 0-3 0-2 0, Delaney 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 15-32 9-16 41.
LEBO (21-4)—McEwen 3-8 7-7 14, Grimmett 3-13 0-0 8, Peek 0-1 0-0 0, Davies 0-2 0-2 0, Reese 0-3 0-0 0, Konrade 1-1 0-0 3, Bailey 1-5 2-4 5, Ott 3-4 1-3 7, Ferguson 0-1 1-2 1, Totals 11-38 11-18 38.
3-pointers—SC 2-8 (Frazier 1-2, Alexander 1-3, Snyder 0-1, Moore 0-2), L 5-20 (Grimmett 2-11, Konrade 1-1, Bailey 1-2, McEwen 1-3, Davies 0-1, Reese 0-2). Rebounds—SC 33 (Frazier 11), L 21 (Reese 3). Assists—SC 6 (Frazier 3), L 9 (Bailey 3). Steals—SC 10 (Alexander 4), L 7 (Reese 2). TO—SC 21, L 15.
1A BOYS DODGE CITY—Little River 65, St. Francis 46; St. John 59, Frankfort 38; Stockton 38, Berean Academy 33; South Central 41, Lebo 38
SEMIFINALS—St. John 22-3 vs. Little River 22-3; Stockton 15-11 vs. South Central 21-5
