With district basketball tournaments looming next week, Osceola County teams spent this week gearing up for those tournaments, locking in all-important seeds.
In order to acclimate to the level of teams they'd likely see in the playoffs, Gateway's girls took on Bishop Moore Monday in Orlando in a clash of two teams ranked among the top 20 across all classes in the state.
The Panthers, No. 3 in Class 5A, and Bishop Moore, No. 1 in 4A, showed each other what playoff-level defense looks like, but it was the Hornets who took the 71-59 win.
Gateway (19-3) stayed close with Bishop Moore (18-4) through the first half Monday, despite point guard Alyssa Marino mired in foul trouble and a cold shooting night. Ashylnn Day (game-high 22 points, seven rebounds, five steals), freshman YaYa D'Amore (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Andrea Suazo (nine points on 3-for-3 from 3 off the bench) picked up the slack.
The Panthers briefly led, 38-37 two minutes into the third quarter after Suazo hit her third three-ball and D'Amore scored off a steal. But the Hornets, with a balanced attack that saw four players score in double digits led by freshman Kylee Trent, went on an 11-1 run, re-took the lead and stretched it with timely shooting.
"That competitiveness is definitely something we'll see in the playoffs," GHS Coach Justin Marino said. "Our kids showed that fire, although we didn't help ourselves with the way we shot the ball around the basket. But now the kids know they have to pick up the intensity if we want to meet the goals we set at a high bar."
Gateway will host The Villages, a Class 3A power team, on Thursday. The Panthers and New Smyrna Beach are both 1-2 in the District 5A-7 and Region 5A-2 rankings meaning, as it stands now, the Panthers would have home court advantage through the district and regional tournaments. This year's state tournaments will be in Jacksonville after being played for decades at the RP Funding Center in Jacksonville.
Among other girls teams, Orange Belt Conference runners-up Harmony (14-5) close at Innovation Thursday and St. Cloud (8-14) wraps up the regular season at Merritt Island Christian Friday.
Osceola's boys team (17-5), looking for another district title and regional playoff run, close the regular season Thursday at Edgewater. Also at 17-5, St. Cloud will try to extend a four-game winning streak going into districts at Gateway Wednesday and home against Ridge Community Thursday.
District quarterfinals, semifinals and finals for girls basketball will be played Monday, Wednesday and Friday of next week, and boys games will be played Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Check AroundOsceola.com this weekend for boys and girls tournament seeds.
