Several girls basketball teams moved on to the next round in the basketball Gateway Conference tournament Tuesday. The matchups set up a Final 4 of great teams with great players, who are ready to challenge for the championship in the Final 4. Check out the teams that advanced.
Games located at Paxon
Riverside 23 Mandarin 59
Mandarin is the number one see but Riverside looked to be up to the task of pulling off the upset. Riverside stuck with Mandarin early by limiting them to one shot and forcing turnovers. Mandarin called a timeout with the score tied at 4 with 5:36 left in the 1st quarter to regroup. It seemed to work as Mandarin pulled away with a 6-0 run late in the first quarter after Riverside committed multiple turnovers and missed a few layups. Riverside then called a timeout to stop the run and fought back with 2 steals in a row to pull within 2 with 2 mins in 1st quarter forcing Mandarin to call another timeout. The quarter end with Mandarin up 12-8 on Riverside. Both teams were missing free throws early, but Mandarin’s turnovers kept Riverside in the game. Mandarin starting to pull away at start of the 2nd quarter, but Riverside regrouped after a timeout to pull within 4 with under 5 minutes to play in the half. At this point, Mandarin’s star sophomore Nykeria Thomas began taking over for Mandarin with a string of steals and layups. Turnovers continued to pile up for Riverside and Mandarin in the half up 31-17. The second half started off slow with only 4 points scored in the first 3 mins by Mandarin, but they eventually picked up their defensive intensity and dominated the 3rd quarter holding Riverside to two free throws in the quarter and 6 points total for the half. Mandarin advances to the semifinal to play Jackson. The game will be held at Ribault at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.
Jackson 66 Paxon 30
This game got off to an unusual start as Paxon received an administrative tech to begin the game putting Jackson up 2 before the game even started. They were also missing two starters, including their leading scorer Ansley Hicks and got off to a rocky start early forcing their coach to call a timeout down 4-0 with 6:00 left in the first quarter. Paxon seemed to regroup after that making it a game and keeping it close by forcing turnovers. Jackson made an adjustment, increased the defensive pressure, and went to a two-post line up and pushed the lead to double digits at 17-6 to end the quarter. Turnovers started to pile up for Paxon and being shorthanded started to show in second quarter as Jackson continued to increase their lead. Jackson was up 32-8 at halftime. The second half was more of the same even though Paxon put up a valiant effort, Jackson ran away with the game. Jackson advances to the semifinal to play Mandarin. The game will be held at Ribault at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.
Games at Sandalwood
Ribault 55 Terry Parker 52 OT
Although Ribault was the number 2 seed, Terry Parker proved to be a worthy opponent as the game was close throughout. Ribault was up 24-21 at halftime. Terry Parker continued to put in for their upset bid and was up by 1 with a little over a minute left in the game. Ribault managed to force overtime. It was more of the same in overtime, but Ribault proved to be the better team on this night and won in overtime 55-52. Ribault advances to the semifinal to play Sandalwood. The game will be held at 7:00 pm at Ribault.
Sandalwood 59 Ed White 35
As with the other games tonight, Ed White seemed to be upset-minded as well as they started the game up 9-1. It didn’t take Sandalwood long to recover from being down as they went on a huge run and came back to go up 21 to 9. The young Ed White players fought hard, but the experienced Sandalwood team pushed the lead to 24 and maintained it throughout. Sandalwood advances to the semifinals to play Ribault. The game will be held at 7:00 pm at Ribault.
