The Gateway Conference Tournament decided on two teams Wednesday night to face each other in the championship game. But first those two teams would have extremely exciting and hard fought contests to overcome. Check out the game recaps below
Girls Basketball
Semifinals
Games held at Ribault
Jackson 53 Mandarin 43
This game featured a matchup of two teams that are on our top ten list in Mandarin and Jackson. Mandarin came into the game undefeated and Jackson has played one of the toughest schedules in the area this season. This game could have easily been the championship game but instead they face off in the semifinals. Mandarin got on the board first with an assist from Nykeria Thomas to Ellie Jackson with an easy layup. Jackson came right back down to get an and-1 from Irene Kabassubabo. The start of the game was indicative of how the entire game would end up going with lots of back-and-forth action. Jackson started a two-post lineup and was able to take advantage and dominant the paint for most of the first quarter and led 7-4 at the 3:23 mark. Both teams struggled to break each other’s presses and piled up the turnovers. Mandarin called a timeout and seemed to adjust to the two-post lineup that Jackson employed and began attacking the offensive board and getting multiple shots at the basket.
Mandarin was able to regain the lead and led at the end of the quarter 12-11. The second quarter featured more back and forth action with Mandarin holding a slim lead at 19-17 halfway through the second quarter. Jackson then began getting to the foul line and went on an 11-3 run to end half to go up 28-22. Mandarin opens the second half with 3-pointer by Thomas which ignited a 7-0 run to take the lead at the 6-minute mark at 29-28. Jackson fights back with a 10-4 run of their own sparked by 8 straight points from Jazmine Jackson to go up 38-33. Turnovers and missed free throws put Mandarin in a hole as they were down 34-44 to end the third quarter. Jackson was able to push the lead up 13 after Thomas with out with cramps with 6 minutes left in the game. Mandarin fought back led by Ellie Jackson and got the lead down to 9 with 3 minutes remaining but was not able to get any closer as Jackson pushed it back to 12 with a minute and a half left in the game. Jackson won the game 53-43 and advances to the championship game where they will play Sandalwood at 7:00 pm on Friday, January 14, 2022.
Guard Jazmine Jackson of Jackson HS 
Guard Irene Kabassubabo of Jackson HS
Sandalwood 47 Ribault 38
This game featured a matchup of two former Gateway Conference Champions in Sandalwood and Ribault. It was a defensive battle for most of the game as both teams struggled to hit outside shots. Sandalwood had an advantage down low with Jada Jones as she controlled the paint early grabbing rebounds and get easy layups or fouled. Ribault is a scrappy team though and fought back and went up early 6-4 off a 3-point shot and what would be a rare occurrence in the game for both teams. They were able to maintain their lead and were up 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. Sandalwood began taking advantage of their size down low and with turnovers piling up for Ribault they were able to take the lead at 21-15 at halftime. Sandalwood pushed the lead to 10 points to start of second half. Ribault fought back as their defensive pressure forced turnovers that turned into easy scores and were only down 25-20 with 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Sandalwood missed free throws and layups kept Ribault in the game as they held onto a slim lead at 27-22 at the 2-minute mark.
Sandalwood still managed to push their lead to 29-22 end the third quarter despite their struggles handling Ribault’s pressure. Ribault gets a steal and layup to start the fourth quarter to close the gap to 24-29. Sandalwood seemed to always have an answer and pushed lead back up to 33 to 24 with 6:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. Ribault’s offensive struggles continued as they were 28-37 with 3:05 left in the game but they never gave up. The got a huge three from Kayla Massey with 2:17 left in game and followed that with a steal and layup to shrink the lead to 39-33. Sandalwood was able to stop Ribault’s momentum with a huge 3-point from Kayla Johnson to push the lead to 42-33. Ribault fought hard but was just not able to overcome their struggles on offense as the two teams traded baskets to end the game. Sandalwood won 47-38 and advance to the championship game against Jackson at 7:00 pm on Friday, January 14, 2022.
