Kowgirls cruise past Lady Dogs

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Kowgirls cruise past Lady Dogs

Sports

Friday, 23 November 2012 00:00

By J. Daniel Pearson
For the News-Gazette
Although both teams are coming off highly successful seasons, Osceola Head Coach Barner Cooks and St. Cloud Head Coach Chad Ansbaugh had different early season objectives as their teams met in the Lady Kowboys Thanksgiving Classic at Osceola High School this week.
For Cooks, whose team was coming off a 20-8 season, it was a good opportunity to his squad to work on its timing and offensive execution, which it successfully accomplished during an opening round, 41-18 win over the Bulldogs.
“We lost some key players from a season ago,” Cook said. “But I really like this team we have coming back. We have a nice mixture of veterans and some young kids. They play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.”
The Lady Kowboys jumped out to a 9-6 lead in the first quarter and were never really threatened by the Lady Bulldogs. Montana Bass led the way with 13 points, including 10 in the first half, to pace Osceola, which improved to 2-1. Bass hit a pair of 3-pointers in the game.
Osceola displayed a balanced attack. Nicole Bravo had nine points. Jasmine Ramos, Gabriella Goiens, Kimani Francois and Tatina Cardona all chipped in four points each. Bravo’s points all came from behind the 3-point line, as she drained three 3s in the contest.
“We made a lot of mistakes in the game,” Cooks said. “But early season basketball is all about getting your timing down and building some chemistry. I liked our energy level and I certainly like our effort. As long as we continue to work hard, I think we have good chance of being successful this season.”
The Lady Bulldogs have a different objective in mind. After going 17-9 last season, St. Cloud lost six players to graduation and had one of its top scorers transfer. That left Ansbaugh with a starting lineup that includes three freshmen—Kierra Crane, Gabby Costas, and Alyssa Best.
“Realistically, you would like to see these kids on junior varsity getting some experience,” Ansbaugh said. “But the fact of the matter is we lost the majority of our team and these players earned their spots on the varsity roster.”
Despite the youth of the squad, Ansbaugh said he did not expect the trio to become flustered or awestruck. “First of all, we’ve already played two or three teams that are in the Super 16 rankings, so if that didn’t shake them, nothing will. These three played a lot of summer ball together and know what type of competition they are going to face this year.”
But it was a senior that stepped up for St. Cloud, 2-4. Candace Wilkins had nine points. Costas added three, while Crane, Best and Tianna Baez added two each.
“In a lot of ways this is an automatic pressure release valve for this team,” Ansbaugh added.
“When we play more experienced teams and come up short, it will be looked on as a young team rebuilding. But when we win some games, it is going to feel that much better knowing we did it with a bunch of freshman.”
The tournament concludes with four games today at the Kowboys gym, with action beginning at noon.