By:  J. Daniel Pearson

The anticipated showdown between one loss Osceola and two-loss St. Cloud for the Orange Belt Conference basketball championship lived up to its hype on Friday night.  

Jordan Isaac scored 22 points and Jordan Mundle came up with a huge blocked shot with 11 seconds to go, as Osceola (19-1) rallied for a 62-57 come-from-behind win over St. Cloud (18-3) at a packed Bob Baker Gymnasium on Friday night.

“Just a great basketball game between two really good teams in an absolutely electric atmosphere,” Osceola coach Steve Mason said.  “Overall, both teams played well and played with a lot of heart, we were fortunate to make the plays we had to make at the end to win.”

The loss denied St. Cloud a second straight OBC championship, but Coach Tommy Billiteri said it was the type of game that his team and can learn and build from as the playoffs approach.  “They (Osceola) have only one loss this season and are highly ranked and yet we went stayed with them,” the second-year coach said.  “At the end of the day, they made one or two plays more than we did.  Still, this is the type of game that should give us confidence moving forward.”

It was a well-played game from start to finish, with both teams shooting the ball well from both the floor (48.8% for St. Cloud, 47.6% for Osceola) and charity stripe (Bulldogs eight of 10, Kowboys 12 of 13).

After taking a 34-32 lead into intermission, Osceola extended the lead to 41-33 with a 7-1 run to start the third quarter.  But St. Cloud fought back.  Josiah Cotto hit a pair of threes and Malaki Baker added four more as the Bulldogs turned the eight-point deficit to a five point lead in the next three minutes.

Although both teams built leads in the game, the contest would come down to a few key plays at the end.   After Osceola fell behind 46-41 late in the third quarter, the Kowboys would rally back to take a 56-55 late in the game on a three-pointer by Helio Quinan.   

Alex Springs pushed St. Cloud back in front with a layup, but a three-point play by Isaac gave Osceola a 59-57 advantage.  The Kowboys would get a stop defensively, but after an intentional foul, Jordan Mason would make just one of two free throws to keep it a one-score game at 60-57 with 13 seconds remaining.

Springs would then elect to drive the lane in search of a quick two, but his shot was rejected by Jordan Mundle.  Isaac would get out on a fast break and slam one home for the 62-57 final.  

“To St. Cloud’s credit they switched from zone to man in the middle of the third quarter and for some reason it really confused us.  They captured the momentum and really started to put the pressure on us” Mason said.  “But our team has played a lot of high level high school and AAU basketball the last couple of years, so that pressure was nothing new to us.  We kept our composure and made the plays we had to make to win.”

For the game, Osceola placed four players in double figures.  Besides Isaac’s 22, Mason had 12, Quinan added 11 and Luke McCrimon had 10. Josiah Cotto, who led the St. Cloud comeback with 11 third quarter points led all Bulldog scorers with 18.  Malaki Baker had 14 and Springs chipped in 12.

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, both teams appear poised to make runs in the 7A playoffs.  Osceola will be favored to win the Class 7A, District 9 title; while St. Cloud is the top ranked team in 7A, District 6.  

In other OBC action, Harmony defeated Gateway in the third place game; Poinciana dropped Liberty (58-43) in the fifth place game and Tohopekaliga grabbed 7th place with a 50-39 win over Tohopekaliga.

BOX SCORE

Osceola (62):  Luke McCrimon 4-0-0-10; Jordan Mason 5-0-1-12; Jordan Isaac 6-7-7-22; Helio Quinan 3-2-2-11; Randy Jean Charles 0-0-0-0.  3 Point Field Goals:  McCrimon 2, Mason 1, Mundle 1, Isaac 3, Quinan 2; Osceola 20-42 FG; 12-13 FT; 62 Points.

St.Cloud (57):  Diomar Ortiz 2-0-0-5; Josiah Cotto 6-3-3-18; Alex Springs 4-4-5-12; Ryan Rodriguez 1-0-0-2; Malaki Baker 6-1-2-14; Julian Fox 0-0-0-0; Elias Torres 2-0-0-6; 3-Point FG:  Ortiz 1, Cotto 3, Baker 1, Torres 2.  St. Cloud 21-43 FG; 8-10 FT; 57 Points