WHITEWATER, KANSAS - The Halstead Dragons came out of rural Whitewater with a 58-34 victory over the host Remington Broncos (0-1).
Neither team could gain early control as Halstead (1-0) took the early 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Halstead then matched the 10 points they scored in the first quarter with 10 more in the second to go into the locker room up 20-17 at the half after a Joseph Stovall layup.
Halstead came out in the third quarter pumped and knew it needed to put more points on the board. It did just that, putting up 15 and holding the Broncos to only 3 points in the third quarter.
“We had 11 turnovers in the third quarter,” Remington coach Rod Browning said. “Turnovers really got us."
The fourth quarter was also controlled by the Dragons as they cruised to win the first game of the season. Halstead was led by senior guard Tony Santiago who finished with 20 points, 17 of those coming in the second half.
Santiago overcame three early first-half fouls to help lead the Dragons to a win.
Senior Austin Rose added 11 points for Halstead in his first varsity game.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Austin Rose there, he has worked his butt off in the off-season and it really paid off tonight,” Halstead coach Tony Hoops said.
The Broncos were led by senior Hunter Hill with nine points, and senior Seth Base with 8.
Remington came into the game with only two players with varsity experience. It looks forward to growing as a team as it travels to Marion for a game against Eureka on Monday in the Marion Invitational.
Halstead will travel to Bennington on Tuesday where it will hope to stay unbeaten against the Bulldogs.
“It feels great, exciting, and it’s just nice to get that W,” Santiago said.
