St. Cloud, Gateway, Tohopekaliga will host Friday, City of Life in it too
Sophomores Alyssa Marino and Evana Rivera combined for 39 points to lead the Gateway Panthers to a 54-35 win over Lake Region in a Class 5A, District 7 semifinal playoff game that ended ugly Wednesday.
The game was stopped with 51 second remaining due to unsportsmanlike actions by Lake Region. The trouble started when a flagrant foul was called on a Thunder player knocked Malayna Stevenson to the ground. A technical foul followed, and a few minutes later Marino took a flagrant foul. With Gateway trying to run out the clock, a third flagrant foul was called and the officials met at half court and decided to stop the game for safety reasons.
“You never want to see that in any game,” Panthers coach Justin Marino said. “And I absolutely agreed with the decision to stop the game. You don’t want players getting hurt. They are an athletic but wild and undisciplined team and I think they were trying to get us into that type of game from the start.”
The win pushes top-seeded Gateway (17-6) into Friday night’s district championship game with Lake Wales (16-9), who beat Davenport in its semifinal.
“We haven’t played them this year, but we met twice last year and we know their style and know what to expect,” Marino added.
Although outside shooting is Gateway's strength it started ice cold, hitting just one of 19 three-point attempts. Still, they did enough with their inside game to control the contest. But it was the Panthers' defense that made the big difference in the game. The Lady Panthers packed the inside with all five defenders, forcing Lake Region to shoot from outside. The strategy paid off as Lake Region made just three of its 23 shots beyond the arc and when the Thunder tried to take the ball inside, Gateway clogged the passing lanes and forced numerous turnovers.
“That was our strategy, we knew from film they were not a great shooting team so the idea was clog the middle and make them beat us from the outside,” Marino said. “The important thing was we didn’t want to fall in love with the three-point shot tonight because we knew that if we could break their press it would result in some easy shots inside.”
The game started off slow for both teams, but the Panthers got nine points in the first quarter from Marino to take a 12-9 lead. Rivera added 11 in the second period as Gateway extended the lead to 30-18 at the half. About the only time the game was in doubt came midway through the third quarter when Stevenson picked up her third personal foul. Lake Region went on a run and cut the deficit five at 35-29. But Rivera and Marino responded with quick buckets and Gateway pitched a shutout over the final two minutes as the Panthers built the lead back 13 after three, at 42-29.
For the game, Marino finished with 20 and Rivera had 19. Stevenson, who missed nearly two months with a severe ankle injury, had 12, including eight from the free throw line.
“She (Stevenson) is nowhere near 100 percent and she is playing in a lot of pain, but she is gutting it out for her team.” Marino said of his senior. “Right now we are relying on our two sophomores to carry the load.”
In other action, Tohopekaliga, the top-seed in Class 7A, District 6, advanced to their district title game with an impressive 50-39 semifinal win over Lake Nona. Sanaa Charles (18 points) and Makenna Day (13 points) led the way for the Lady Tigers (16-3), who are enjoying their best season in school history.
Toho moves on to play Harmony (9-9), a 44-42 winner Wednesday against Celebration in the other district semifinal.
“We played pretty well tonight, especially on defense,” Tohopekaliga coach Jen Farrell said. “We were able to capitalize with some steals and then turned those into fast break points. We’re going to have to tighten it up a little, especially against a tough Harmony in Friday’s final.”
The St. Cloud Lady Bulldogs (20-6) also advanced to their district championship game with a big 87-24 win over Bartow in the 6A, District 7 semifinals. St. Cloud will host Kathleen (18-7) Friday night for the district crown.
“I haven’t seen the stat sheet yet, so I can’t even tell you who are leading scorer was,” St. Cloud coach Chad Ansbaugh said after the game. “But it was our best offensive output of the year and we everyone got a lot playing time so it was a good night.”
"Kathleen are a scary team,” Ansbaugh said. “They are athletic and can be very physical. With two six-footers they are a hard team to trap and press.”
City of Life will also play for a Class 2A, District 8 championship Friday at Lakeland Victory Christian in a meeting of the top two seeds. The Warrior advanced with a 58-51 win over Moore Haven; while Victory Christian defeated Legacy Charter 42-38 on Wednesday night.
Check back with us Thursday night for boys district semifinal action!
Basketball district playoff schedule (games including Osceola teams)
Monday's girls (games at 7pm)
7A-6: Lake Nona 52, Poinciana 50; Celebration 47, Osceola 26
6A-7: Bartow 40, Liberty 24
2A-8: City of Life 53, All Saints 3
Tuesday's boys
7A-6: Lake Nona 65, Tohopekaliga 31; Osceola 80, Celebration 25
5A-7: Gateway 70, Lake Buena Vista 44
2A-8: All Saints 77, City of Life 70
Wednesday's girls
7A-6: Tohopekaliga 50, Lake Nona 39; Harmony 44, Celebration 42
6A-7: St. Cloud 87, Bartow 24
5A-7: Gateway 54, Lake Region 35
2A-8: City of Life 58, Moore Haven 51
Thursday's boys
7A-6, at Lake Nona: Osceola vs. Poinciana, 5 p.m.; Harmony at Lake Nona, 7 p.m.
6A-7: Bartow vs St. Cloud at Lakeland
5A-7: Lake Wales at Gateway
Friday's girls championships
7A-6: Harmony at Tohopekaliga
6A-7: Kathleen at St. Cloud
5A-7: Lake Wales at Gateway
2A-8: City of Life at Lakeland Victory Christian
Saturday's boys
Thursday's winners for district championships at highest seed
