The championship game of the Gateway Conference Tournament will feature a rematch of last year’s game between defending champions Raines and Ribault. These two school are old rivals and have had some classic battles in the past. Raines won their earlier match up this season 62-49. Ribault was coming off of quarantine and hadn’t played or practiced for two weeks. Their first time hitting the court was the night of that game. The game was close for about three quarters but Ribault essentially seemed to run out of gas. It’s unlikely that either team will have that in mind when they face each other tonight as each game is different and brings its own challenges. Both teams advanced to the championship overcoming challenges on the court from opposing teams in the Gateway Conference Semifinals.
The first game of the Semifinals of the Gateway Conference Tournament featured a matchup of the defending champions Raines against an up and coming Terry Parker team. The game started out rough as neither team could buy a basket. Terry Parker led 1-0 with 4 mins left in the first quarter. Terry Parker started to figure things out and was up 8-0 with 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter. Raines finally got on the board late in the first but still trailed 10-6 at the start of the second quarter. Raines finally took the lead at 11-10 with 6:32 left in the second quarter and never lost it as they led from that point on. Terry Parker kept it close, but could not knock off the defending champs, losing 41-48. Raines was led by Seniors Ahliah Brown with 15 points and Selah Reddick with 13 points. Terry Parker was led by Senior Takia Brown with 17 points.
The second game of the Semifinals of the Gateway Conference Tournament featured a matchup between Ribault and Jackson. It was almost a mirror image of the first game as both teams couldn’t score to start the game. Jackson got things going with a bucket at 6:32 in the first quarter. The game was pretty even at first, but took a turn when Jackson’s Xaniya Jackson picked up her second foul with 3:25 left in the first quarter. Ribault led 14-6 going into the second quarter and increased that lead to 18-7 with 4:42 left in the second quarter.
Xaniya Jackson returned to the game and made an immediate impact. She got two offensive rebounds and was fouled on one and scored on the second. Jackson closed the gap but Ribault still led 25-19 at halftime. Ribault scored 7 quick points to start the third quarter and never looked back as the lead ballooned to as much as 28 points. Ribault won the game 59-34. Ribault was led by Sophomore Asiana Britt with 17 points and Senior Kendra Williams with 14 points. Jackson was led by Junior Jasmine Jackson with 8 points and Sophomore Xaniya Jackson with 7 points.
