Longhorns Hold Off Bulldogs in 42–27 Thriller, Punch Ticket to Girls Basketball District Final

By: J. Daniel Pearson

Jayme Montanez scored a game-high 11 points as the Harmony Longhorns defeated the St. Cloud Bulldogs, 42-27, in a 7A District 6 semifinal girls basketball game on Wednesday night.

The win sends the Longhorns (17-5) into a Friday night match-up with Tohopekaliga (14-3), a 44-33 winner over Cyrpess Creek. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night at St. Cloud High School.

“We can be a strange team,” Harmony Coach Paul Strauch said. “When we play smart, we can be a pretty good team, when we don’t play smart, we can be pretty bad. I think you saw a little bit of both tonight.”

Because of turnovers, Harmony only managed five shots in the first quarter but hit three of those attempts and built an 11-3 lead after one – thanks to a defense that held St. Cloud to just one of 10 from the field.

Longhorn shooters went cold in the second. While they were going three of 14 from the field, St. Cloud’s Ella Wetzel drained a couple of late three-pointers as the Bulldogs closed the gap to just six at intermission, 19-13.

Harmony would take advantage of its size and a tough defense in the decisive third quarter.

Using solid ball movement, the Longhorns worked the ball inside –resulting in several layups and fouls. Harmony made five of six free throws in the period and got four points each from Montanez and Zoe Witt to score 14 in the period. Meanwhile, its defense forced five turnovers in the period and held St. Cloud to one for six from the field as the Dogs scored just three points to trail 33-16 heading into the final stanza.

St. Cloud managed three, three-pointers in the final period but Harmony went to a slowdown offense, eating large chunks of time off the clock. The Longhorns only put up five shots in the period but limited St. Cloud to just eight attempts of their own, while forcing another five turnovers.

In addition to Montanez, Mariana Collado scored nine and Ellah Husbands had seven in leading a balanced Longhorn attack. Wetzel led St. Cloud with 11.

On the night, Harmony shot 37% from the field (13 of 35) and 61% (11 of 18) from the free throw line. St. Cloud was 25% (10 of 40) from the field and shot just one free throw. The Lady Bulldogs had 19 turnovers in the game.

Although the Longhorns already own a 45-28 win over Tohopekaliga this season, Strauch is expecting a tough challenge for the District crown. “That game earlier this season was deceiving, it was tight for most of the contest,” he said. “We were able to speed our tempo up late in the game and turn a four-point lead into a 14-point lead late. Essentially, we just wore them down in the fourth quarter.”

St. Cloud head coach Chad Ansbaugh said that his team showed their youth in the game. “We made the mistakes a young team is going to make and Harmony’s veteran squad took advantage of it. Our effort was there, our execution was not. “

The Bulldogs finished the year with a 10-17 record. Still five of their top seven players in the game were freshmen and sophomores – leaving Ansbaugh with a solid feeling about the future. “This was the most fun I had in coaching in a long time,” Ansbaugh said. “These kids stuck together and played hard. From where this group came from (2-10 start) to 10 wins was a great accomplishment. Now we need to take build on that next year.”

In other action Wednesday night, top-seeded Gateway (22-3) advanced to the Class 5A, District 7 championship game on Friday with a 73-42 win over Deltona. They will meet New Smyrna Beach (17-7), a 66-22 winner over Pine Ridge. That game is an important one for both teams, as the two teams are ranked first and second respectively in Region 2 and winner will most likely secure home court advantage all the way through regionals.

The boys take center stage on Thursday night with District semifinal action. Poinciana is at Osceola in 7A, District 9 cation; Tohopekaliga plays St. Cloud and Harmony takes on Lake Nona in a 7A, District 6 double header at Lake Nona; and Hardee is at Liberty in a 4A, District 7 tilt. Gateway and Celebration were eliminated earlier in the week in quarterfinal action.

Basketball District Tournaments

Schedules and Results Involving County Teams

Boys Class 7A, District 9

Quarterfinals (Feb. 3)

Poinciana 64, Celebration 58

Semifinals (Feb. 5)

Poinciana at Osceola, 7 p.m.

Davenport at Community Ridge, 7 p.m.

Championship (Feb. 7)

Semifinal Winners at High Seed, 7 p.m.

Boys Class 7A, District 6

Quarterfinals (Feb. 3)