Alyssa Brasko's put-back of a rebound with 12 seconds to go lifted Bishop Moore over Gateway, 37-35, in the Region 5A-2 girls basketball final.
The frantic fourth quarter left Gateway (22-8), in its first-ever appearance in the regional final, just one bucket short of the state tournament in Lakeland, where the Hornets (22-6) will go and play Pensacola Pine Forest on Thursday at the FP Funding Center in Lakeland.
"I told the girls, 'Don't let it get down to a one-possession game at the end, because their size hurts us on the boards,'" GHS Coach Justin Marino said.
It culminated a fourth quarter in which the lead changed four times in the final three minutes and change.
Gateway took the lead, 25-23 into halftime after Soleil DeJesus hit a jumper and Malayna Stevenson knocked down two free throws in the last minute of the half.
But Bishop Moore opened the second half on a 9-0 run, and with point guard Neri Moreau on the bench briefly with a knee injury, Gateway's shooting went cold. Stevenson's layup with a minute left was the Panthers' only field goal in the third quarter, and they entered the final frame trailing 33-29.
The score remained there until the 3:33 mark, when Vanessa Diaz hit a three-pointer and was fouled -- for the first points of the quarter by either team. Diaz converted the free throw to tie the score.
Brasko, who led all players with 14 points and 10 rebounds, added a free throw with 3:09 left to put the Hornets up 34-33, then rebounded a Gateway miss on the next possession. Bishop Moore looked to hold the ball and ran a stall-delay offense, but Moreau stole the ball with 1:15 left. After a timeout, the Panthers ran a motion offense of their own, and it worked when Moreau found Paige Alise in the paint for a lay-up giving GHS the 35-34 lead.
But it was Brasko who followed Brooke Allen's miss with a rebound and a put-back on the next possession. With a chance to win it, Moreau found Stevenson breaking through the lane, but her lay-up rolled off the rim with four seconds left. The Panthers' only hope after a Hornets free throw was a desperation three-pointer that missed the mark.
"If you told me walking in we'd hold them to 37 I'd take it, since we were averaging 50-60 points all year against good teams like them," Marino said. "I like to win, but it was a really good season."
Moreau graduates and heads to the University of Tampa. Her final game as a Panther shows four points, six rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Alise (six points) is also a senior.
But Diaz (11 points, a junior), Stevenson (7, sophomore), DeJesus (7, freshman), Madison Vaqzuez (junior) and Karli Cole (sophomore) are all slated to return next year.
Wekiva ends Bulldogs' Final Four dream:
Heading into Friday night’s Class 6A Region 2 final with state power Wekiva, St. Cloud head coach Chad Ansbaugh felt his team would have to make 15 three-pointers to have a chance to pull off the major upset over the Mustangs and earn a trip to the FHSAA Final Four.
The Bulldogs barely got that many three-point attempts off.
Wekiva’s came out in a tight man-to-man defense, forced 23 turnovers and bullied the Bulldogs all night – pulling away for a 52-32 win and earning their fourth straight trip to the Final Four.
“You can watch all the film you want on them and try to prepare for them in practice, but until you get on the floor with them, you have no idea how big, strong and athletic they are,” Ansbaugh said. “I knew they had some outstanding athletes, but I really didn’t think we were prepared for how they contested our perimeter game. I was really proud of how we hung in, but in the end they were just too big and too physical for us.”
St. Cloud managed just one field goal in the first quarter, but down 13-2 they battled back. Danigzy Mantilla scored six points in the second period and the Bulldogs defense limited Wekiva to just five points as they closed the gap to 18-13 at intermission.
Vanessa Vohs would then hit a three for the Bulldogs at the 3:04 mark of the third quarter to make it a two-point game at 25-23. But it would be as close as St. Cloud would get for the rest of the night.
Mustangs’ leading scorer Jada Eads caught fire in the final three minutes of the period – hitting four field goals and a pair of free throws as the Mustangs finished the period on a 7-0 run to build a 32-23 lead after three.
When Mantilla picked up her fifth foul early in the fourth quarter, the bottom fell out for St. Cloud. Ryan Moffitt and Shaniyah McCarthy spurred an 11-2 run to start the period and Wekiva took a comfortable 43-25 lead.
Eads led all scorers for 19 points. Moffitt and McCarthy combined for 27 points and 16 rebounds.
Mantilla led all St. Cloud scorers with 10. “It was one of those games were I felt maybe our defense was getting some ticky-tack fouls called on us, while they were letting them play on the other end,” Ansbaugh said. “But in the end, it probably would not have mattered in the final result, we were facing a tremendous challenge against a team we simply did not match up well with. When Danzy picked up her fourth and fifth fouls that early, it really put us behind the eight-ball.”
Still, Ansbaugh said he was incredibly proud of his team and the spunk they showed, as the Bulldogs finished with a 20-9 record, an OBC title and a district championship.
“This is the type of team any coach would dream about coaching. They have worked so hard, they were so unselfish, and they bought into everything we tried to teach.”
The future looks strong for the Bulldogs as they started sophomores Mantilla, Emily Lockey and Haley Collins.
