With 51-46 win over NSB, Panthers at 23-3 are Region 5A-3 No. 1 seed
Title time's worth a selfie for the Gateway Panthers! (Photo/Taylor McFee)
It was physical, it wasn’t particularly artistic, but in the end, Gateway’s girls hoops team got exactly what it wanted and needed – a district championship and home court advantage throughout the regional playoffs when they start next Friday with a come-from-behind win over New Smyrna Beach, 51-46, Friday in the District 5A-7 championship game.
As the No. 3 ranked team in Class 5A and the No. 1 team in Region 3, the Panthers (23-3) will be at home through the regionals as long as they keep winning. At No. 5, New Smyrna Beach (17-8) would have flipped the seedings with a win.
“It was a tough game, but we’re a battle-tested team. We were in a boxing match tonight and we punched back when we needed to,” Gateway Coach Justin Marino said. “It’s why we play a tough schedule all year to get ready for these moments.”
Things did not start out well for Gateway. Sophomore star Ashlynn Day picked up an early foul, forcing Day to switch off defensively against NSB standout Iniyah Reddicks. After the switch, Reddicks caught fire – scoring all 15 NSB points in the quarter as the Barracudas took a 15-11 lead.
With Day switched back on Reddicks in the second quarter, holding her to two points. Gateway senior point guard Alyssa Marino hit a couple of threes and scored eight points in the period, as the Panthers battled back to take a 28-24 lead at intermission.
But turnovers and missed free throws were an issue for the Panthers all game. Through three quarters, Gateway turned the ball over 14 times and missed 10 free throws. Jayda Owens scored six points in the third and Gateway managed just three field goals, as the game was knotted at 36 heading into the final period.
With Gateway trailing 41-40, the Panthers used a big basket by Jalissa Yarborough, a put back by Evana Rivera, and a big three-pointer from Marino to go on a 7-0 run and take the lead for good.
Brooklyn Cooper kept NSB within striking distance on back-to-back baskets, but Day hit a couple of free throws and the Panthers were abled to kill 1:15 off the clock with a four-corner stall to preserve the win.
Day (20), Marino (18) and Rivera (9) combined for 47 points. Reddicks led the Barracudas with 21, but managed just four points after her red hot first quarter. Cooper chipped in 12 and Jayda Owens added 10, but Gateway held the ‘Cudas to 31% shooting.
“They apply a lot of pressure, but they tend to be a little undisciplined and we knew that would open some things up for us on the backside,” Marino added. “Unfortunately, we made mistakes and did not take advantage of it. We had three keys to the game – stop Reddicks, value the basketball, and force bad shots. We failed at two of those, but we did enough right things to win the game.”
Gateway will be at home next Friday night in a Region 2 quarterfinal – brackets should be released Sunday. Despite the loss, NSB will gain one of four at-large spots in the region, making a rematch likely in the regional final on Feb. 27.
In other girls district action involving Osceola County teams, Harmony (18-5) defeated Tohopekaliga (14-4) to claim the District 7A-6 crown, Haines City ended Poinciana’s season with an 83-24 win over the Eagles, and City of Life fell to Lakeland Victory Christian, 69-40 in 1A-9.
See our tracker story for all postseason basketball and soccer results.
The boys take center stage Saturday. Top-seeded Osceola (20-5) faces Davenport (13-13) in the 7A-9 final on their home court at 7 p.m. St. Cloud (21-5) will look for the 7A-6 championship when its plays at Lake Nona at 6 p.m. and second-seeded Liberty (15-4) will play at Bishop Moore at 3 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s 4A-7 title game.
