LAKELAND — After a sparkling, undefeated season leading up to Saturday’s Class 6A final, Bloomingdale ran headlong into a juggernaut in Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.
It didn’t go well for the Bulls.
The Raiders were simply too tall, strong and quick in winning their fourth straight state title, 70-35 at the RP Funding Center.
A shock to the Bulls’ system? Yes and no.
“St. Thomas did what we thought they would do, and that was no surprise,” Bloomingdale coach Joel Bower said. “We legitimately thought we had a chance to compete, but then we hurt ourselves quite a bit with some early mistakes. When you have to play close to perfect and then you make mistakes, it starts to compound.”
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ZZDVJVEPTJDWRFYGNGGIAOSA7A.JPG "Bloomingdale's Noelle Mengel, who finished with 10 points, finds the going tough against St. Thomas Aquinas.")
It didn’t take long for the game to get away from the Bulls. They fell behind 20-9 in the first quarter and then, after a slew of turnovers (12 in the first 16 minutes), trailed 39-14 at the half.
The mercy-rule running clock, which kicks in after a team leads by 35 points, began with five minutes left in the game.
“I would say it was more on us than it was on (Aquinas),” Bower said. “We had to do some things to keep it close, but then we turn it over and they get a layup and then we push it up the floor and right into their teeth, so to speak, and turn it over again. That’s where we needed to keep our composure.”
It was a bit of a surprising performance, Bower said, because the Bulls (30-1) had played tough in many tight games, winning 10 by single digits, including Thursday’s 55-50 state semifinal victory over Ponte Vedra.
“We were here two days ago, and (Saturday) didn’t really feel any different,” said Bloomingdale junior Noelle Mengel, who had more than 20 points in the previous four games before scoring 10 Saturday. “I felt we were ready.”
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DT2TAR6HH5APZIU3RCXKP3YULQ.JPG "Bloomingdale coach Joel Bower and players, from left, Izellah Kendrick, Kaitlyn Zieske, Jatia Markes and Noelle Mengel watch the final seconds tick off the clock.")
Aquinas (23-9) did have the advantage in experience after winning three previous straight state titles and playing a brutal national schedule this year.
“Playing on the state’s biggest stage is familiar to us, and that helps keep our composure and our poise,” Aquinas coach Oliver Berens said. “And we felt that we could give Bloomingdale, after looking at their schedule, something that they have never seen before.
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Explore all your options“We knew that they would be in unfamiliar territory and that we would be in very familiar territory. From that standpoint, we were incredibly confident.”
An upside for Bloomingdale is that it returns four of its starters, who now have the experience of playing in a state title game.
“I am ready to start working right now so we can come back here and win this,” said junior Izellah Kendrick, who finished with a team-high 14 points.
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