By:  J. Daniel Pearson

For the second time in four years, the Gateway girls’ basketball team will play for a state championship.  The Lady Panthers (26-3) punched their ticket to FHSAA Class 5A Final Four with a convincing 61-51 victory over New Smyrna Beach on Friday night.

The win will place the Lady Panthers in a state semifinal game on March 11 at University of North Florida Arena in Jacksonville. Game time and opponent will be announced after regionals are completed and final seedings are determined.

“I am extremely proud of what this group has accomplished, winning a regional title and getting back to a Final Four for a second time in four years is an amazing feat,” Panthers head coach Justin Marino said.  “When we did it in 2023, we were a young team and I think we were intimidated a little.  We’re a veteran group now and hopefully we can take it another step.”

Friday’s title game was the second time the Panthers defeated the Barracudas in the post-season this year.  Back on Feb. 6, Gateway struggled through three quarters before putting the game away in the fourth, 51-46, to win the Class 5A, District 7 championship.

Despite being without super freshman YaYa DiAmore, the Panthers had an easier time of it on Friday night.

Gateway got off to a strong start and when Evana Rivera and Bella Davila hit back-to-back threes, the Panthers jumped out to a 14-2 lead.

New Smyrna would settle the pace from that point forward, but found themselves trailing at halftime, 26-16.  The third quarter would be both an interesting one and a somewhat decisive one for the Panthers.

NSB star Iniyah Reddicks, who scored 21 points in the district final, would catch fire and hit for 10 of her 18 team-high points in the third quarter, as the Barracuda’s would creep to within seven on several occasions.  But on three consecutive attempts in the period, sophomore Andrea Sauzo would bury three-pointers – allowing the Panthers to extend the lead back to double-digits each time.

“Everyone talks about our big two or three, but we have other players that we have a lot of confidence in, including Andrea,” Marino said.  “She’s a quiet but important part of our offense.”  For the game Sauzo finished with 14 points.  She made four, three-pointers – the eighth time this season she made three or more treys in a game.

After extending the lead to 42-31 after three, the Lady Panthers were able to play a little keep-a-way; while sophomore Ashlynn Day took over the game.  Day scored seven of her game-high 19 points in the final stanza;  while dishing out a couple of assists as Gateway allowed New Smyrna to only make up a single point in the period, 20-19.

“It was very similar to our first game we played against them in the district final, in it was very physical,” Marino added.  “The main difference was the officials were letting a lot of that physical play go.  When they don’t call a lot of fouls, I prefer it– as long as they are consistent.  I don’t have a deep bench so we need to stay out of foul trouble.”

Marino’s bench should get stronger for the Final Four semi.

Moore, who missed all three regional games (family issue, followed by a concussion in practice), is expected back for the Final Four game. “She’s only a freshman, but YaYa has been a 14-point, 7-rebound per game player for us,” Marino said.  “We’re a much better team when she’s available and on the floor.”

The win added to the school record for most victories in a season by a Lady Panthers team (previous record 24 in 2022-23) and gave this group of Gateway players an 88-24 record over the past four seasons.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

New Smyrna Beach 5 11 15 20 – 51

Gateway 14 12 16 19—61

Scoring (FG, FT-FTA, Pts)

NSB:  France 1, 0-0, 2; Monroe 2, 0-2, 4; Cooper 3, 0-0, 6; Reddicks 8, 2-4, 18; Ammons 1, 2-2, 5; Haywood 3, 0-1, 9; Horwitz 1, 0-0, 2, Owens 2, 1-2, 5.  Three Pointers:  Ammons 1, Haywood 2

GATEWAY:   Day 6, 7-15, 19; Marino 1, 3-4, 6; Rivera 4, 2-4, 11; Yarborough 3, 0-0, 6; Davila 2, 0-2, 5; Sauzo 5, 0-0, 14.  Three Pointers: Marino 1, Rivera 1, Davila 1, Sauzo 4.

Field Goal Percentage:  NSB:  21-51, 41.2%;  Gateway:  21-46, 45.6%

Free Throw Percentage:  NSB:  6-14, 42.9%; Gateway:  12-25, 48%

Turnovers:  NSB 15, Gateway:  9