First since '71, Osceola three-peats; regionals will be set Sunday
First One In the Case: nobody in this photo — and likely no one in the gym — was alive the last time (1971) the St. Cloud Bulldogs claimed a district title. (Photo/Taylor McFee)
St. Cloud ended decades of district losing and frustration with a heart-stopping, electric 60-56 road win over Lake Nona to claim the District 7A-6 championship Saturday for the Bulldogs’ first district title since 1971.
“They were bigger, faster and more athletic that we were,” St. Cloud Coach Tommy Billiteri said. “But you could say that about a lot of our opponents this year. It’s the heart, hustle, guts and determination of this group that can’t be measured. We knew it would be a battle tonight, but I also had confidence in this group.”
They were one of two teams to claim district titles Saturday night — Osceola romped to an 81-61 win over Davenport in 7A-9 Saturday. Two other county teams were runners-up, as Liberty (64-49 at Bishop Moore in 4A-7) and City of Life (73-37 at Lakeland Victory Christian in 1A-9) lost championship games. (See accompanying story for scores of all district games.)
St. Cloud (22-5) fell behind early when starter Nate Thompson was whistled for two quick fouls and then got a third on a double technical foul call that forced him to sit the entire second quarter. Lake Nona guard Kymani Dixon answered by hitting a couple of 3-balls and scoring 10 points in the quarter, as the Lions built a 12-8 lead.
The Dogs fought back in the second stanza, outscoring the Lions 14-9 in the period to take a four-point lead into the locker room at half. Team captains Elias Torres (5 points) and Diomar Ortiz (7) keyed the rally.
Turnovers, tough defense and some bad breaks kept either team from pulling ahead in the third. Lake Nona forced five turnovers and St. Cloud had several shots fall off the rim. The teams were tied at 38 heading to the final eight minutes.
“We had some shots that looked like they were three quarters down the basket and they just popped out,” Billiteri said. “A couple of them just made me look to the sky and smile, wondering what was going on.”
It all set the stage for heroics by Torres, Ortiz, Thompson and Matt Bieman. Torres was the sparkplug of the period, stealing the ball at midcourt, driving the lane and hitting a layup. On the next possession, he hit a three-pointer that put the Dogs up 47-42. He finished the quarter with two steals, two assists and seven points.
“I’ve been head coach here for only three years, but I have been around high school basketball for a while and I can honestly say that I have never seen a player that means more to a team than Elias means to this team,” Billiteri said. “The last couple of years he has been the absolute heart and soul for us.”
But Torres was far from the only hero. Bieman hit three big baskets in the period, Ortiz made a key free throw and provided tough defense down the stretch and Thompson – who was on the bench for much of the game and held scoreless for the first three periods – hit six of seven free throws and scored nine points in the decisive fourth.
Although he heaped all the praise on his players, Billiteri deserves a ton of credit for the win. He made several in-game adjustments that stopped the Lions momentum, while pushing the right buttons for most of the game.
Taking over a program that went two decades without a winning season, Billiteri is now 65-17 in his career – including 22-5 in a year that saw five of his top seven underclassmen transfer out of the program after winning the program’s first regional playoff game last year.
In Kissimmee, Osceola (21-5) used its pressure defense to jump out to a 22-6 lead and cruise to their third straight district title with the win over Davenport.
St. Cloud and Osceola will now wait until the regional brackets and pairings are released Sunday. Gateway and Harmony, who won girls district tournaments on Friday, will also learn their regional pairings on Sunday.
