Gateway, Tohopekaliga, City of Life see season end Wednesday
Of Osceola County's four girls basketball district champions, just one will move on to Monday's regional semifinal.
The top-seeded St. Cloud Bulldogs cruised to an easy 57-28 win over New Smyrna Beach in a Class 6A, Region 2 quarterfinal playoff game Wednesday.
Meanwhile, for Gateway, a return trip to the state Final Four will have to wait until at least next year. The Panthers, who won three regional playoff games last year, faced a height disadvantage against Riverview Spoto Wednesday, and despite an early lead and a furious fourth-quarter comeback, lost to the Spartans, 40-37 in a Class 5A game.
Dr. Phillips (24-2) showed Tohopekaliga (16-4) why they are the No. 5 ranked team across all classes with a 94-37 win in the Tigers first-ever regional playoff game, and City of Life (14-7) fell to North Tampa Christian, 68-43, in a Class 2A game.
Haley Collins led St. Cloud with 14 points. Danigzy Mantilla added 11, Savannah Kroener and Vanessa Vohs had 10 and nine.
Mantilla, St. Cloud’s sparkplug guard, went down after colliding knee-on-knee with an opponent and left the game, but Coach Chad Ansbaugh didn't think it was serious. Mantilla left the game with an apparent knee injury and did not return.
“She will probably be sore for a couple of days. Obviously she is such an important part of our team,” coach Chad Ansbaugh said.
St. Cloud earned the win with a combination of solid shooting and tenacious defense. The Lady Dogs shot 46% from the floor (24 for 52) while limiting the Barracudas to just 11 field goals and forced 22 turnovers.
Vohs spurred an 18-10 advantage in the first quarter by hitting two big three-point attempts; while Mantilla (7) and Collins (6) had big second quarters as St. Cloud was able to extend the lead to 20 at the intermission, 37-17. The Bulldogs turned the ball over just one time in the half.
When Vohs connected on a three-pointer and Kroener followed with a layup midway through the final stanza, St. Cloud went in front 57-26—allowing Ansbaugh to pull his starters for the final three minutes of the game.
“We missed some easy shots we probably should have made, but overall it was a solid performance,” Ansbaugh said. “There’s no question with each step we take it’s going to get tougher. If we want to keep playing past Monday we have to clean up a few things, but fortunately we have a few days to work on that.”
St. Cloud will host Wekiva, a 42-38 winner over Kathleen Wednesday. The Bulldogs defeated Kathleen, 53-40, in the district championship game last week.
“Just started watching film tonight,” Ansbaugh said late Wednesday. “My first impression is they are a very fast and athletic team. We’ll have our hands full.”
Gateway (18-8) went over 10 minutes, from the end of the first quarter to early in the third, without a field goal, and Spoto (18-9) used a 21-1 run during that time to build a lead that reached 11 early in the fourth quarter it wouldn't lose.
"My guards were getting faceguarded, then when they reached the lane there was 6'3" (center Dominique Boone) waiting for them," exasperated Gateway Coach Justin Marino said. "I just hate it for our seniors."
The Panthers actually scored the first nine points of the game; when Alyssa Marino knocked down a three-pointer, GHS lead 9-0 with 2:20 left in the first quarter. But the Spartans scored the next two baskets, including Suri Thomas' (15 points, eight rebounds) jumper just before the first-quarter buzzer. It swung the momentum; Spoto scored 12 points in the second quarter and the Panthers missed all eight of its shots. The Spartans took leads of 16-10 at the half and 28-21 into the fourth quarter.
It reached 32-21 before Marino, who led all scorers with 18 points, keyed a 9-0 run that narrowed the gap to 32-30 with 4:22 when she hit a lay-up that got the home crowd back in it. The teams traded baskets until Evana Rivera (seven points, 12 rebounds) hit a huge three-pointer with 50 seconds left to make it 36-35.
Thomas put back a miss with 28 seconds left, then Marino sank two free throws with 18.4 seconds. Trailing 38-37, Gateway attempted to foul to stop the clock, but Spoto beat the Panther press, and Clinnesha Simmons made a shot and got fouled with 9 seconds remaining. She missed the free throw, and Gateway took timeout to set up a potential game-tying shot. They got the shot, but Marino's three-pointer glanced off the rim.
"I'm proud of the way our kids adjusted on the fly to playing a pressure defense in the fourth quarter," Coach Marino said. "We lose a couple of seniors (including starters Malayna Stevenson, Karli Cole and Karyna Rivera, who scored 6, 4 and 2 points), but I promise you we'll be back to be back in this position."
