Thanks to both a strong start and third-quarter push, the St. Cloud Lady Bulldogs hoisted the Orange Belt Conference trophy Friday for another season.
In much the same manner as winning last year’s conference title game against Gateway – a regular-season game part of a round robin of play – the Bulldogs started the game on a 12-0 run, then went on another 12-0 run to close the third quarter as host St. Cloud defeated the Panthers, 44-31, in Friday's OBC tournament championship game.
The team's met in a Christmas break tournament in Melbourne, with players missing from both sides, at St. Cloud took a 46-30 win. Friday, with a starting lineup in flux – St. Cloud Coach Chad Ansbaugh was mostly without two post players -- Junior point guard Danigzy Mantilla picked up the slack and dictated the pace of the game and made plays in all phases. She led the Bulldogs with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Emily Lockey added 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks on a night where the Bulldogs drained nine three-point shots.
“Our girls just stepped up. Under the circumstances I’m pretty impressed,” Ansbaugh said. “Ziggy takes care of everybody else, so normally her numbers don’t look like much, but she never complains.”
Jaelyn Bonilla and Lockey opened the game by hitting three-pointers during a clean and impressive first quarter for St. Cloud (17-5), who took an 18-8 lead, didn’t turn the ball over and held the Panthers (17-5) without a field goal the first five minutes of the game. Gateway clawed back in the second quarter, trimming the lead to 24-19 at halftime and getting as close as 24-21 when Vanessa Diaz, who scored a game-high 17 points, hit a pair of free throws to start the third quarter.
But, over two minutes of game clock, Mantilla scored a bucket and was fouled, Karyna Rivera and Arianna Viera knocked down triples on consecutive possessions, and Lockey completed an and-1 to push the lead to 36-21 and get the crowd rocking. Diaz and Alyssa Marino completed three-point plays to open the fourth quarter to pull to 36-27 with five minutes left, but the Bulldogs locked down on defense, and when Lockey was fouled after hitting a three-pointer and sank the free throw with 2:31 left, it was 42-27, and ultimately decided.
St. Cloud held the Panthers to about half of their 57 points-per-game average. For Gateway, Evanna Rivera added five points and 11 rebounds. Malayna Stevenson, who came in averaging over 20 points per game, was held to one field goal.
“I’ll tell any who will listen that Justin (Marino at Gateway) is a great coach. What he’s doing there is super impressive,” Ansbaugh said. “This is how you want it to be, you have to earn it. We practice for things like this.”
In Friday’s third-place OBC game, Harmony (12-4) dominated Poinciana (8-7), taking a 24-8 halftime lead and cruising to a 48-26 win.
Next week is the end of the regular season. Harmony plays at Cypress Creek Tuesday and hosts Satellite Thursday. Gateway plays at Freedom and West Orange Tuesday and Wednesday and hosts Liberty on Friday. St. Cloud hosts Life Christian Monday, is at Cocoa Tuesday and hosts Oviedo Saturday.
