By: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
In what could only be described as a total team effort, the Lady Bulldogs shot 46% from the floor and played some tenacious defense – forcing 22 turnovers – in recording a convincing 57-28 win over New Smyrna Beach in a Class 6A, Region 2 quarterfinal playoff game on Wednesday night.
The win lifted St. Cloud to 22-6 on the season and put them in a Monday regional semifinal against Wekiva, a 42-38 winner over Kathleen. As the top seed in Region 2, St. Cloud will host that game at 7 p.m.
Wednesday’s game was decided relatively early, as St. Cloud build 10-point lead after one quarter, 18-8, as Vanessa Vohs hit a couple of three-pointers and the Bulldog defense held the Barracudas to just three field goals on 12 attempts.
It was more of the same in the second quarter, Danigzy Mantilla scored seven of her 11 points in the period to held St. Cloud extend the lead to 37-17. In the half, St. Cloud held NSB to six field goals, while forcing 10 turnovers. While that was happening, the Lady Bulldogs committed just one turnover in the half, while shooting at a 52% (16 of 31) clip.
Both teams would grow a little cold in the third quarter, but St. Cloud was still able to extend the advantage with an 11-7 quarter to take a 48-24 lead. After an Arianna Viera 3-ball and a Savannah Kroener layup pushed the lead to 57-26, Coach Chad Ansbaugh emptied his bench with 3:16 remaining.
“Overall, I thought we played pretty well and stuck to our game plan,” Ansbaugh said. “There were a few things we really need to cleanup if we want to keep playing past Monday night.” Still the veteran coach said he was glad that the upcoming playoff game would be at home. “When it comes to playing the game at home, I hate using the word ‘deserve’ because you don’t ‘deserve’ anything in sports. Still, this team has worked hard all year and overcome a lot of adversity, so I would say they earned the right to play at home.”
For the game, Collins led all scorers with 14 points. Mantilla had 11, Kroener chipped in 10 and Vohs had nine. Collins also added three blocks to her stat line. Paris Thompson led New Smyrna Beach (14-7) with 12 points – all coming on three-pointers; while Emma Corr added nine.
St. Cloud did have a scare in the fourth when Mantilla went down at the 5:10 mark of the fourth quarter after colliding with another player. She eventually limped off the court with an apparent knee injury and did not return to the game. “It was a knee on knee collision and hopefully it is just a bruise,” Ansbaugh added. “She’s obviously a big part of our team.”
Things were not as good for the other county teams involved in regional basketball. Tohopekaliga dropped a 7A, Region 2 game to Dr. Phillips, 94-37. It was a tall order for the Lady Tigers, as Dr. Phillips came into the game with a 23-4 record and is currently the number three ranked girls’ team in the entire state across all-classifications. Despite the loss, Tohopekaliga finished the season with their best record in school history, 16-4.
There will be no repeat Final Four appearance by Gateway this season; as the Lady Panthers dropped a heart-breaking 40-37 decision to Riverview’s Spoto Spartans. Gateway finishes its season with an 18-7 record.
