'Indian Country really got behind our team'
Santee Warriors make it to state championships
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March 14, 2023
The Santee Warriors boys basketball team at the Nebraska Class D-2 championship game in Lincoln, Nebraska, on March 9, 2023. Photo by Hannah Rygaard / Isanti Community Schools
A high school basketball team from a small reservation community in Northeast Nebraska made it to the Class D-2 state championships last week for just the second time in its school's history, only to get knocked out of the tournament by their first opponent.
"We Rep the Warriors": Fans cheer on the Santee Warriors boys basketball team at the Nebraska Class D-2 championship game in Lincoln, Nebraska, on March 9, 2023. Photo by Hannah Rygaard / Isanti Community Schools
The Santee Warriors entered the state championships as the No. 7 seed. For the first round, the team was pitted against No. 2 Shelton. A controversial referee call with 7 seconds left in the game ended Santee's Cinderella run, and Shelton defeated them 72-68.
Santee Head Coach Waylon LaPlante criticized the referee's decision to call a technical foul against Santee senior and his team's lead scorer Austyn Saul. With his team leading 68-67 and inbounding, Saul turned to look behind him and brushed up against a Shelton player, who appeared to throw himself to the ground with much greater force than Saul's movement seemed to warrant.
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