For Panthers’ girls hoops seniors, it’s second Final 4
Gateway hoops fans, find your way to Jacksonville. You’ve got a little less than a week.
The Lady Panthers did just that Friday.
Gateway punched its ticket back to the Class 5A state tournament for the second time in four seasons with a gutsy, gritty, physical 61-51 win over New Smyrna Beach in the Region 2 championship.
In the state semifinals Wednesday, the Panthers will meet Pensacola Booker T. Washington (21-3) in a 3 p.m. showdown at UNF Arena on the campus of the University of North Florida.
St. Petersburg (20-7) and Pompano Beach Ely (19-5) will meet in the 11 a.m. semifinals, and Wednesday’s winners will meet at 5:30 p.m. for the Class 5A title. All four 5A teams left were the No. 1 seed in their region. Gateway, at No. 26 in the FHSAA overall rankings, is the No. 3 Final Four 4 behind Ely and Washington (13th and 15th).
The Washington Wildcats feature 6’2” center and Florida State commit Chamiah Francis, who averages 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Shooting guard Jada Clardy, a sophomore, leads the team in most metrics (14.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, two steals per game).
Gateway counters with one of the state’s best scorers, sophomore Ashlynn Day, who averages a double-double (22.7 points, 11 rebounds), including the one she put up Friday (17 points, 11 rebounds, with five assists and three steals). Around her are two seniors from the 2023 Final Four trip, point guard and three-point sharpshooter Alyssa Marino (14 points, six assists) and center Evana Rivera (8.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, three steals).
The Panthers will also get back freshman forward Yaya D’Amore (10.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, five steals), who missed the last two regional games after suffering a concussion on Feb. 13.
“We’re a team that can compete,” GHS Coach Justin Marino said. “I think last time (a 56-23 loss to eventual 5A champion Mainland) we were just happy to be there. I don’t think we’re going up there thinking it’s not a successful season if we don’t win it. I just want to see us compete and play like we have all year.”
He said not to expect to see much different from what fans saw in the district and regional playoffs, aside from inserting D’Amore back in the lineup.
“We’re not going to overthink it, which is hard when you’ve got over a week to prepare for one game,” Marino said. “When we try to do something we don’t normally do to match up, the intensity or the trust just isn’t there. We’re just going to try to play fast and athletic.”
Alyssa Marino said she’s more excited than nervous about getting a chance Wednesday to end her high school career by playing for a state title.
“We’re prepared, we’re experienced,” she said. “We’ll be ready to just play our game and leave it all out on the court.”
Rivera said the key will be the same it was Friday: play solid defense and rebound.
“We’re a pretty athletic team, and with Yaya back I think we’ll be ready,” she said.
Friday, Gateway got effort and big moments from everywhere, starting with a raucous student section that brought life to Bob Baker Gym and made things pretty miserable for the Barracudas (19-9), the Region 2 No. 2 seed who the Panthers also played for the District 5A-7 title.
Gateway won the rematch thanks to jumping out to a 14-2 lead six minutes into the game after Bella Davila drilled a threepointer from the corner.
From there, the teams played tight defense that let the Barracudas stay within striking distance. The Panthers led 14-5 after one quarter and, despite only draining two field goals in the second quarter, led 26-16 at halftime.
NSB leading scorer Iniya Reddicks tried to keep the visitors in it, scoring 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, but the Panthers got answers and the separation they sought in the third quarter with the three-ball. Andrea Suazo came off the bench to nail three of them on kickouts from Ashlynn Day and Marino in a two-minute span, the last pushing the lead to double digits as Gateway took a 42-31 lead to the fourth quarter.
“Andrea gets streaky like that, she made eight in a game this year,” Coach Justin Marino said.
From there the Panthers put the ball in Day’s hands, scoring seven points down the stretch as NSB never got closer than seven points.
“That was a challenging, intense game,” Day said. “We were able to break their press when they were trying to come back, that’s a big reason why we won.”
Senior Jalissa Yarbrough scored the first four points of the game, and Rivera, despite early foul trouble, chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
“The girls played defense and rebounded like a team that wanted to win and keep the season going,” Coach Marino said.
And they’ll do that in Jacksonville next week.
