By: J. Daniel Pearson
Ryan Rodriguez’s lay-up with 1.9 seconds left gave the St. Cloud a 59-58 upset win over Lake Highland Prep and kept the gritty Bulldogs (5-0) undefeated on the season.
The win appeared an unlikely one for the Bulldogs, who were in danger of getting blown out in the second half. St. Cloud trailed by four at the half and then watched the Highlanders go on a 12-0 run to start the third quarter and pull out to a 36-20 lead.
But Rodriguez would score 13 of his game-high 24 in the final five minutes of the third period to keep St. Cloud in the game, as the Dogs trailed 44-34 with eight minutes remaining.
Although Rodriguez scored three quick buckets to open the fourth, Lake Highland was able to maintain a 4-6 point lead for most of the final stanza.
RJ Ingram was fouled on a layup and completed the three-point play to push the lead to 54-47 with just over three minutes to go. But the Bulldogs kept fighting back. A Diomar Ortiz three pointer made it 54-50 and after St. Cloud forced a turnover, Malaki Baker nailed a three from the right corner to cut the lead to 54-53 with 1:20 remaining.
With time running down and the scored tied 57-57, St. Cloud fouled Ingram – who could only manage to make one. Taking the ball out of bounds, Baker inbounded the ball to Springs who drove the lane and dished off to Rodriguez for the game-winner.
Rodriguez finished with a career –high 24 points. “It wasn’t about me, it was a team win,” Rodriguez said. “The thing I love is we never get down on ourselves. Regardless of the score, we just play hard, knowing that things can turn around.”
“Sometimes your best players don’t always have it. Alex (Springs) and Josiah (Cotto) are still in football shape, not basketball shape,” St. Cloud coach Tom Billiteri said. “We tell our guys all the time that when our best players are struggling, everyone has to step up and Ryan certainly did that tonight. He played a great game.”
For the contest, Baker finished with 14, Ortiz had 10 and Springs added seven. Cotto rounded out the scoring with four. Lake Highland was led by Ingram with 17,Shiva Atwel had 16, and Mike Madueme added nine.
It was a physical game that was strangely void of free throw opportunities. Neither team went to the charity stripe in the first half; while Lake Highland did not shoot a free throw until 6:13 remaining in the game. There were only 12 free throws attempted in total, including seven by the Bulldogs.
