Harmony, Tohopekaliga lose Class 7A road games; Boys games hit the court Saturday
Looking very much like the No. 1 regional seed, the Gateway Panthers rolled to a stress-free 59-19 win over visiting Fivay, in the Region 5A-2 quarterfinals Friday.
Meanwhile, in Class 7A, District 7A-6 champion Harmony (18-6) played Oak Ridge (20-6) tough, but fell, 60-52. And Tohopekaliga (14-5) saw why Port St. Lucie Centennial (21-6) is the No. 1 seed in their region and lost, 78-38.
“It pretty much went the way I thought it would,” Gateway Coach Justin Marino said, despite being without the services of freshman starter YaYa D’Amore, who missed the game to tend to family matter. “I wasn’t particularly happy with our slow start, but I also felt that once we got going, they would have a hard time with our pressure defense.”
That's what played out. The Panthers (24-3) clung to a 16-10 first quarter lead with point guard Alyssa Marino on the bench with two quick fouls. Then Gateway found its familiar passing gear and mashed the gas hard. Evana Rivera made her first seven shots and scored 15 first-half points while the Panthers defense forced 15 turnovers. When the dust lifted, Gateway led 41-14 at intermission.
Ashlynn Day starting the second half by hitting three quick layups – two off her own steals -- to build the lead to 47-14. When Bella Davila hit two free throws at the 6:27 mark, the game went to a running clock. Early in the fourth quarter, Gateway had emptied its bench as the team rolled to its 24th win in 27 games.
The final numbers were staggering. Fivay (15-10) scored just one basket over the final three periods on 20 shots. The Panthers forced 23 turnovers.
Gateway was led by Day’s 19 points; Rivera added 18 and Marino, who hit three 3s in the second quarter, had 13 as the Panthers shot 52% (24-for-46).
Coach Marino praised Rivera after the game.
“I thought we were a little lethargic in the first quarter and pointed out at halftime that I was happy someone (Evana) decided to come to play. She really provided the spark we needed,” the coach said. “Evana doesn’t get the same attention that Alyssa and Ashlynn get, but many times, she has been the heart and soul of this team.”
The Panthers will be back at the Gateway gym next Friday for the regional semifinals against Leesburg.
Boys basketball takes over on Saturday night. Over on Nate Alexander Court, Osceola (21-5) – the No. 2 seed in Region 7A-3 —hosts Sarasota Riverview (16-10) at 7 p.m. St. Cloud (22-5) will try to pull a major upset when it travels to Orlando to meet top seed and perennial state power Oak Ridge (17-9) in Region 7A-2.City of Life (21-6) hosts Canterbury (14-7) in a Class 1A, Region 3 playoff game, also at 7 p.m.
