Osceola and St. Cloud will take it "old school" when the longtime rivals will meet Friday at 7p.m. in the Orange Belt Conference boys basketball championship game at Gateway High.
The teams from the county's original two high schools -- intense rivals in the days before Gateway, Poinciana and Harmony -- won semifinal games in two different manners on Wednesday to get to Friday's final.
Osceola (17-1) cruised to a 74-50 win over Harmony, thanks to fast starts in the first and third quarters. Meanwhile, St. Cloud (18-2) needed a defensive stand and two free throws from Josiah Cotto with 5.7 seconds left to defeat upset-minded Gateway, 42-39.
“You’re not always going to play your best, so it’s important to be able to survive games like this,” St. Cloud coach Tommy Billiteri said. “But this was the type of game I was fully anticipating. Travis (Gateway coach Travis James) always has his teams locked in, focused and ready to play.”
Both teams started off shooting the ball well – combining to hit 11 of 23 field goal attempts and battling to a 13-13 tie after one quarter. But the Panthers forced St. Cloud into a four for 13 shooting performance in the second quarter and behind six points by Yangel Malpica, grabbed a 25-22 lead at the half.
The Panther defense kept the pressure on early in the third quarter, as St. Cloud missed their first eight shots and fell behind 30-22. Billiteri went to his bench, which proved to be the turning point in the game. Several Bulldog backups, led by guard Elias Torres, hounded the Panther offense for the rest of the period – holding them scoreless as St. Cloud went on an 8-0 run to close the gap to 33-30 after three.
“There’s no question, Torres came in and gave us energy,” Billiteri said. “He took a couple of charges, had a few steals and forced a couple of turnovers – that helped switch the momentum. Without him, I don’t think we come back tonight.”
St. Cloud continued to fight back and Alex Springs tied the game on a three-point play with 4:17 remaining. The Bulldogs took the lead for good 45 seconds later, 35-33, when Malaki Baker put back on his own missed layup.
Still, the Panthers displayed a lot of fight down the stretch. Trailing 39-36, Gabo Hayes made it a one-point game with a layup off a steal. With 16.3 second remaining, Cotto hit just one of two free throws and Hayes had a chance to tie it when he was fouled with 6.7 seconds remaining. But he made just one of two free throws and the Panthers were forced to foul Cotto quickly.
“We got them in the type of game I thought we needed to in order to have a chance to win,” James said. “We had some tough calls go against us in the second half, but we still had our chances. I was proud of how hard we played.”
Diomar Ortiz and Baker led St. Cloud with 11; Alex Springs chipped in 10. Malpica had 13 and Hayes had 10 for the Panthers.
Meanwhile, Osceola started its semifinal on a 12-0 run -- Harmony didn't attempt a shot for the first three minutes thanks to hounding Kowboys defense -- and scoring the first 11 of the third quarter to make quick work of a Longhorns team that's become a bit of a rival as well. The two teams have met three times in the last two years in OBC and district finals.
"Duke (Leonardo, HHS Coach) does a great job prepping his team," OHS Coach Steve Mason said. "But our kids came ready to play, they love this tournament format. Not only are we playing good rival teams but it's great preparation for the district tournament and a step to get better for the playoffs."
The three Kowboy Jordans showed some of that form: Isaac (23), Mason (20) and Mundle (15) combined for 58 points. Luke McCrimon added 11 with five rebounds and five steals, and Helio Quinan had a game-high seven rebounds.
Osceola led 18-8 after one quarter. The Longhorns pulled to within 5, 26-21, midway through the second quarter, and Jaden Smith's layup made it 29-22 with 1:52 left in the half. But Mason hit a pair of 3s in the final 88 seconds as part of a 9-2 run to make it 38-25 at the half. The Kowboys came out of the break on a 15-2 run and led 64-35 after three quarters; OHS was 11-of-13 from the free throw line in the third.
Smith and Jeremy Penner led Harmony with 11 points and five rebounds each.
Friday will be the first meeting between the schools since the Kowboys won a 71-35 decision in 2023 but the first time Billiteri will face the Kowboys as a head coach.
“We’re going to have to pay attention to detail and be focused because they are a very talented team," Billiteri said. "I think our guys are going to be ready. We haven’t played them in a couple of years, so I know our guys will be excited. It should great environment.”
Mason, who's been an OHS assistant or head coach off and on for nearly 25 years and a fan since he was a kid, smiled when told the Kowboys would re-kindle their Bulldog rivalry Friday.
"It's who both teams want," he said. "Osceola and St. Cloud for a trophy, it's like old times."
Gateway and Harmony will play in the third place game at 5 p.m. Friday.
