It’s on to the second round of voting for Coal Ridge senior basketball standout Austin Gerber to represent at the Big Dance.

Gerber won the first round of voting that concluded Tuesday morning, advancing to the quarterfinals in the American Family Insurance #DreamFearlessly fan vote contest.

The social-media campaign will select one of the eight high school players from across the country to compete the NCAA Final Four 3-point shooting contest in Atlanta on April 5.

Thanks to some huge local and national support, the Titans’ sharp-shooter won the first round with nearly 65% of the vote to 35% for Conifer’s Elijah Cook. He will now be up against Kyle Hubbuch from Sahuaro High School in Tucson, Ariz.

Gerber is shooting 46% from beyond the 3-point arc this season, having scored 314 points on the season heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Roaring Fork Rams. Overall, he’s shooting at a 49% clip, including 85% on 62 attempts from the free-throw stripe.

The #DreamFearlessly contest lets fans decide an “under-the-radar” 3-point shooter to join select participants from some of the more elite programs in the country to showcase their skills in a shooting competition during the NCAA Final Four.

The contest began with 16 of the top statistical high school 3-point shooters in the nation in a bracket-style competition to determine the final #DreamFearlessly participant. There’s a separate contest for girls 3-point shooters and for the prep boys slam dunk competition.

Fans can vote for Gerber once a day starting Wednesday until 11 a.m. Feb. 26. Each week, the field narrows until fans are asked to vote on the final two contestants between March 6-13.

jstroud@postindependent.com