By: J. Daniel Pearson
After the St. Cloud Lady Bulldogs upset third-ranked Oak Ridge, 65-62, perhaps it was fitting that the first person to run on the court to hug and congratulate head coach Chad Ansbaugh was St. Cloud boys’ coach Tommy Billiteri.
On back-to-back nights, the two men led St. Cloud’s basketball teams to improbable upsets as Ansbaugh followed Billiteri’s huge road win over Olympia on Wednesday night with an upset of his own Thursday against the Pioneers.
Both teams now advance to next week’s Class 7A, Region 2 semifinals — with the Lady Bulldogs taking on number 2 seed Centennial on Tuesday; while Billiteri has a Monday date with top-seeded Windermere.
It was a surprising upset for the Lady Bulldogs.
Not only did St. Cloud graduate 87% of its offense from a year ago, but its best returning player – Savannah Kroener – was one of several players that missed significant playing time this season with injuries.
The fact that the team rallied to win 18 games in the regular season and capture a district title was impressive enough – but Thursday’s win over third-seeded Oak Ridge nearly brought an emotional Ansbaugh to tears.
“This is the best,” Ansbaugh said after the contest. “Our St. Cloud teams have had some special moments and big wins through the years, but based on what we had going into this season, the injuries and adversity we faced, and the odds that were stacked against us tonight, this win is the best. These kids willed themselves to a win tonight.”
The contest started as expected as the bigger, stronger and faster Oak Ridge team forced three consecutive turnovers and jumped out to a 7-2 lead. They continued to force turnovers, added second chance points and maintained a comfortable lead in the first half.
Only the stellar play of Kroener kept St. Cloud in the game as she scored 15 first-half points to keep the Dogs in striking distance at 32=27 at the half.
Some ice cold shooting by Oak Ridge (4 of 16) in the third period, along with some stellar play from Kroener and Arianna Viera turned the tables for the Bulldogs in the third.
St. Cloud took its first lead of the game at the 5:41 mark of the third on a Kroener layup. That capped an 8-2 St. Cloud run at the start of the period and Kroener’s 11 points and Viera’s seven in the period helped build the lead to six after three quarters, 49-43.
Things would get dicey in the final stanza.
After neither team scored in the first two minutes, Oak Ridge take advantage of several turnovers and questionable Bulldog shot selection to go on an 8-0 run and grab a 51-49 lead.
Over the next three minutes, five ties and lead changes took place and things looked bad for the Bulldogs when Kroener fouled out at the 1:53 mark. “When she picked up her third foul midway through the third period, I would normally have taken her out, but we had absolutely no one who could match-up and cover #24 (Sarah Jean), we had to leave her in. She quickly picked up a fourth but we still needed her on the floor,” Ansbaugh said.
After Kroener fouled out, Viera hit a three and added another free throw after a defensive stop to give St. Cloud a 59-55 lead. A Khalsie Vidal layup cut the gap to two but Viera responded with a pair of free throws to make it a four-point game. Viera extended the lead to six at 63-57 with two more free throws with just 19.6 seconds remaining.
But Vidal knocked down a quick three-pointer and Jean, who led Oak Ridge with 20 points, would steal the inbounds pass, lay it in and all of a sudden the lean shrunk to one, 63-62 with 5.9 seconds remaining. After an Oak Ridge timeout, St. Cloud was able to inbound the ball to Viera – who was once again fouled. She knocked down both free throws to put St. Cloud up by three with 3.9 seconds left.
Although Oak Ridge fumble he inbounds pass, Timberlynn Campbell recovered it but her desperation and potential game-tying three-point attempt bounced off the backboard and St. Cloud held on for the win.
Kroener, who fouled out with 29 points, and Viera, who had 27, accounted for all bur nine of St. Cloud’s 65 points. At the end, St. Cloud won because it made 10 of its last 11 foul shots despite turning the ball over 17 times in the game.
“This was a tough game to get ready for because Oak Ridge is so fast and athletic and our second team players simply could not replicate that in practice,” Ansbaugh said. “Getting the ball inbounds, taking care of it, and making free throws is something we spend a lot of time on and frankly we didn’t do a great job there—especially early in the game. Fortunately we knocked down our free throws when we had to.”
He added that he was glad this team would get another game. “I’m happy for our seniors, especially Savannah who played her heart our tonight,” Ansbaugh added. “I certainly didn’t want to see her career end on the bench after fouling out, especially after carrying the team on her shoulders. I’m so happy for all our kids. We get another bus ride, another game and another chance to make some memories.”
