LAKELAND -- The Gateway Panthers had no answer for Mainland's Anovia Sheals, who scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as she led the Buccaneers to a 56-23 win in Thursday's Class 5A girls basketball state championship semifinal.
"Obviously not the way we wanted the season to end, but I will tell you one thing," Gateway coach Justin Marino said. "This team has a ton of heart. We ran into a team that had two Division-I transfers and they were simply bigger, faster and stronger than we were. But I will take a 30-point loss in a Final Four game, knowing what our team had to go through to get here."
Mainland (20-8) used a swarming defense and its superior height and quickness to limit the Panthers to just six total field goals.
In a early sign of things to come, Gateway's Alyssa Marino appeared to have an open three point attempt on the Panthers first possession -- only to have Tia Dobson fly in from nowhere to swat the shot away. Mainland used that swarming defense to take a 12-4 lead after one quarter and a 23-12 lead into intermission.
Any shot of a Panther comeback was quickly squashed in the third quarter as Mainland opened on a 8-0 run to extend the lead to 31-12. Gateway managed just one field goal in the period. It was more of the same in the fourth as Sheals scored six points and the Bucs again limited the Panthers to just one field goal -- a three-pointer by Malayna Stevenson with just 2:43 remaining in the game.
"We knew going in, the key was to stop number 20 (Stevenson)," Mainland coach Brandon Stewart said. "She is so good when she gets the ball in the front court and then drive the lane and either gets a layup or kicks the ball out. Anovia (Sheals) is our best player and had the ability to play any position so we kept her on 20 all game."
"They did nothing we weren't expecting or ready for," Marino said. "But knowing what to expect and stopping it when you see it in person are two different things. We didn't have the athleticism and size to match-up."
Still, the Panthers had a great season, winning 24 games, taking their first regional championship and playing in their first state Final Four. "We ended up playing 31 games and you can't do that without winning a lot of games in the post-season," senior guard Vanessa Diaz said. "We were a close knit team that worked so hard to get to this point. I am really proud of what we accomplished."
Marino echoed the sentiment. "Vanessa has been the backbone of this program for the last four years and was a great leader. She and the rest of the team have nothing to hang their heads about. It was a blast coaching this team this year as they continued to build our program."
Diaz was the only senior on Gateway's roster, as the Panthers finish with a 24-7 record.
Mainland limited Stevenson and Diaz to just 14 combined points, about 20 below their combined average. The Bucs also forced 19 turnovers and dominated the glass 38-19 -- including 20 offensive rebounds.
It was the first time any Gateway basketball program -- girls or boys -- qualified for the state Final Four.
