LINCOLN - The 7th-seeded Santee Warriors outplayed two-seed Shelton for most of the second half of the Class D2 quarterfinal matchup, but one play - on a dead ball - ended up making the difference.

Leading 68-67 with less than ten seconds to go. Santee star senior Austyn Saul was called for a technical foul as the Warriors were getting ready to inbound. Saul made contact with a Shelton player, drawing the call.

Shelton's Ashton Simmons made both technical free throws, and Santee would not score again, falling 72-68.

It was the culmination of the most exciting game of the NSAA Boys Tournament so far. After Shelton controlled the first half, the Warriors outscored the Bulldogs 22 to 5 in the third, turning a 13-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead heading into the fourth.

Both teams traded haymakers in the fourth, with Saul and Justus Denney, and Riley Bombeck of Shelton all landing big shot after big shot.

Shelton advances out of the first round since 1993. They now look to advance to their first state championship game since they won the 1919 Class A championship game, a drought of 103 years.

Santee played their first state tournament game since 1936. In that appearance - the only other in school history - the Warriors scored 54 points total over three games, 14 fewer than they scored on Thursday alone.

SANTEE (15-6).  - 10 16 22 20 - 68  

SHELTON (23-1) - 19 20  5 28 - 72

SANTEE STATS: Kellen Medina - 16 pts, Austyn Saul - 16 pts, Justus Denney - 10 pts, Nunpa Torrez - 10 pts, Marquis Tuttle - 10 pts, TaSunka Starlin - 6 pts

SHELTON STATS: Riley Bombeck - 29 pts, Ashton Simmons - 24 pts, Quinn Cheney - 11 pts, Luke Gillming - 4 pts, William Roe - 2 pts, Benjamin Myers - 1 pt, Gerardo Delgado Romero - 1 pt