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.

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.

“If you’re unsure of yourself, don’t blow that whistle,” said LaPlante. “Shelton stole one from us.”

Shelton’s Ashton Simmons made both of his free throws from the technical, and Santee failed to score again.

But LaPlante didn’t lay all the blame on the referee. The big lights and big crowds of the Devaney Sports Center threw the young players off their game, he said.

“The jitters were getting them,” he said.

The Warriors started off slow, earning less than 10 points in the first quarter and ended the first half down 13 points.

But the team went to work quickly in the second half, and outscored the Bulldogs 22 to 5 in the third quarter, gaining a four-point lead heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter saw the teams trading three-point shots before Shelton finally ended Santee’s first state tournament run since 1936.

“They left everything on the court. No regrets,” LaPlante said.

He thanked his community of Santee and other reservation communities in Nebraska for supporting the Warriors.

The team made it to the state championships by playing fast on offense and aggressively on defense. They made it in no small part by having the state’s leading scorer, Saul.

And they got to Lincoln with the support of their entire community, as well as the support of other reservation communities in Nebraska, LaPlante said.

“We definitely appreciate the support that we get,” he said.

Much of the village of less than 400 people gathered to see the boys off the morning the team drove to Lincoln. And they stopped in Winnebago for a pep rally and lunch, followed by a stop in Walthill, where Omaha Nation students and fans hosted the team.

In Winnebago, they fed the boys Indian dogs and Indian burgers and prayed with the boys.

Santee Sioux Tribe Chairman Alonzo Denney said the team has lifted up its entire community.

“They put Santee on the map for us,” he said.

And he thanked the other Native communities that supported the team.

“Indian Country really got behind our team here,” he said. “That’s honorable. I appreciate that.”

Junior shooting guard Justus Denney, 17, said the team has been playing together since peewee leagues. Even back then, it was clear the team had talent, he said.

“We were good back then, really good,” he said. “That’s what brought us here.”

Sophomore guard Tasunka Starling, 15, said chemistry, hard work and an aggressive defense also were important factors to the team’s success.

“Offense wins games. Defense wins championships,” he said.

He said community support also inspired the team to push its limits.

“Seeing other rezzes support us, it’s cool,” he said. “It’s really cool.”

For LaPlante, basketball is a family thing.

His oldest son Jaylon serves as the team’s assistant coach, and his son Jayquin LaPlante is a junior small forward for the team.

“That’s a dream come true for me.”