Gateway Lady Panthers hoops season ends in 5A state semis

GHS falls 54-41 to Pensacola Washington

  • Gateway point guard Alyssa Marino launches — and makes — a three-pointer from way (way, way) downtown at the buzzer to close the Gateway season and her career, which ended with a 54-41 loss to Pensacola Washington in the Class 5A state semifinals. (Photo/NFHS)
    Gateway point guard Alyssa Marino launches — and makes — a three-pointer from way (way, way) downtown at the buzzer to close the Gateway season and her career, which ended with a 54-41 loss to Pensacola Washington in the Class 5A state semifinals. (Photo/NFHS)

    The Gateway Lady Panthers couldn't turn their regional basketball championship into a state tournament win Wednesday, falling, 54-41, to Pensacola Booker T. Washington in the Class 5A state semifinals at the University of North Florida Arena in Jacksonville.

    Four-year starters Alyssa Marino and Evana Rivera played valiantly with their teammates, but saw their Panther careers, and the 26-4 season, end.

    Marino led her team with 15 points and four assists. Rivera scored seven and added six rebounds and four assists. Super sophomore Ashlynn Day added 12 points and eight rebounds.

    But it simply wasn't enough against a Washington Wildcats (22-3) team who shot just over 52% from the field. The Wildcats will play Pompano Beach Ely, a 58-38 winner over St. Petersburg earlier on Wednesday, in Friday's 5A title game.

     

    Washington's 6'2" center, Florida State commit Chamia Francis was held in check thanks to foul trouble. She scored 11 points, but had three blocks. The guard tandem of Nylah Brooks (game-high 17 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals) and Kayln Brooks (16 points) hit the big buckets to keep Washington comfortably in the lead much of the game.

    While that Washington foul trouble could have helped Gateway, it couldn't turn it into points, going 5-for-19 at the line, including a 1-for-6 first quarter when the Panthers trailed by just a bucket, 12-10.

    Alyssa Marino hit on a three-pointer to tie the score at 16, then Day made the second of two free throws to give Gateway a 17-16 lead with 3:35 left in the first half. But Brooks bookended a pair of threes around a Francis putback to put Washington up seven wiht 1:38 to go Senior Jalissa Yarbrough connected on a three-pointer, but Thomas finished a minute-long possession with a back-breaking three-ball at the halftime horn to send Gateway to the locker room down 27-20.

    Marino scored on a nifty reverse layup to make it 32-26 halfway through the third quarter, but it's as close as the Panthers would get. Gateway committed only nine turnovers in the game, but five came in the fourth quarter, preventing an epic comeback.

    Marino closed out her career in style, hitting a three-pointer from some 30 feet out as the final horn sounded.

     

    Andrea Suazo came off the bench to nail a first-quarter three pointer, and Bella Davila scored on a third-quarer free throw. Freshman Yaya D'Amore logged two rebounds and three steals. 

    This was Gateway's second trip to the Final Four in four years, the last coming in 2023 in Marino, Rivera and Yarbrough's freshman year.