Given the landscape of high school sports in Florida, this might be the year the Gateway girls basketball team needs to wrap up a its goal of winning a state championship.
Gateway is loaded with talented young players and the poachers have been circling, trying to get players like star sophomore Ashlynn Day to transfer. The certainty is that four seniors will be gone, including second-leading scorer Alyssa Marino, who is the coach’s daughter.
So as far as father and coach Justin Marino knows, this could be his final season at Gateway, which rolled into the Class 5A Region 1 final after a 67-34 victory over Leesburg on Friday night. Gateway (25-3), the No. 1 seed in Region 1, will host New Smyrna Beach (19-8), a 64-26 winner over Springstead, in next Friday’s region final in Kissimmee.
“I’m like 50-50 to be honest,” Marino said on his chances to return after his daughter departs to play college ball at Embry Riddle in Daytona Beach. The key will be finding out if the remaining players stay at Gateway.
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“It’s kind of tough to keep your kids. If I get another high-profile player in so we can still compete at this level and my kids stay, then I would say yes.”
It’s not just the personnel that drives Marino.
“I want to make sure I can give the same that I’ve been giving,” he said. “I took over a [horrible] program at Gateway, but ever since that first year, we’ve never won less than 17 games and we’ve never not made a regional. I’ve put a lot into it and I want to make sure I can give that same effort.”
If this is the final season for Marino it will be a bittersweet ending, no matter how the season concludes. He’s been with some of these girls since his days as coach at Neptune Middle School in Kissimmee. And coaching his daughter has been extra special.
Gateway senior Alyssa Marino, the coaches daughter, is averaging 14 points and 6 assists per game this season for the 25-3 Panthers. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
“It’s been a blessing. She’s really never had another coach,” Marino said. “So the trophies and the accolades and everything are great, but, honestly, the time I’ve gotten with her is kind of irreplaceable.”
He said they have been able to leave basketball on the court.
“We’ve always been able to separate it,” Marino said. “She’s tough as nails, so I can literally curse her out and she just responds and then we don’t really take it off the court. It’s always been really, really good.
“I know other people have had issues like that, and they told me before, like, ‘Oh, I could never coach my kid’. But I could never have anybody else coach my kid, because I know I’m gonna be able to put her in the best position. I know she wants to be coached hard and we’ve always had that thing. It’s always been a blessing.”
He will have to relinquish that coach-daughter role next year.
“Yeah, for the first time, I’ll have to be a spectator,” he said.
Gateway sophomore Ashlynn Day is averaging 23 points and 11 rebounds for Gatweay this season and the Panthers have advanced to the 5A region final. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Gateway is 150-58 since Marino turned the program around in his second season (2018-19). The Panthers have enjoyed eight consecutive winning records and set a program record for wins with Friday’s victory.
“It’s just a mix of experience and young talent. Like my daughter played in the final four her freshman year and so did Evana [Rivera]. I’ve had them since sixth grade so they are very experienced,” Marino said. “And then I’ve got, obviously, a stud in Ashlynn Day. She’s gonna be a Power 4 player. We also have a freshman Yaya D’Amore who is electric.”
Day, a 5-foot-9 sophomore, with her Michael Jordan-like tongue wag, leads the way, averaging 23 points and 11 rebounds per game. The coach’s daughter is next, averaging 14 points and 6 assists. D’Amore averages 11 points and 7 rebounds and senior Rivera averages 9 points and 9 rebounds.
The Panthers topped New Smyrna 51-46 in a district championship game. Last year, the Barracudas beat Gateway 56-48 on its way to winning the state title.
“New Smyrna is tough. I thought we played them really well the first time. The score really didn’t indicate the game. We were up line nine or 10 with about a minute to go and were kind of playing keep away and they cut it to five,” Marino said. “I like our chances because we’re at home. We had to go to them last year. They gotta come to us this time and I like it.”
Region results
Here are Friday’s region semifinal scores for each region, and a third line with next Friday’s finals matchups:
7A Region 1
Ocoee 60, Timber Creek 27
Colonial 45, Creekside 35
No. 2 Colonial (22-5) at No. 1 Ocoee (23-5)
7A Region 2
Treasure Coast 55, Oak Ridge 45
Centennial 64, Jupiter 47
No. 2 TC (25-4) at No. 1 Centennial (22-6)
6A Region 1
Tocoi Creek 60, Lake Howell 51
No. 6 Bartram Trail (14-9) at No. 2 Niceville (22-7)
TBD at No. 1 Tocoi Creek (23-6)
6A Region 2
Bloomingdale 47, Edgewater 42
Bayside 52, Lakeland 51
No. 2 Bayside (21-8) at No. 1 Bloomingdale (25-2)
5A Region 2
Gateway 67, Leesburg 34
New Smyrna Beach 64, Springstead 26
No. 2 NSB (19-8) at No. 1 Gateway (25-3)
4A Region 2
Bishop Moore 77, North Marion 37
Eustis 52, Titusville 39
No. 2 Eustis (21-5) at No. 1 BM (23-4)
3A Region 2
Lake Highland Prep 51, Cardinal Mooney 45
Tampa Catholic 66, Windermere Prep 60
No. 2 TC (24-6) at at No. 1 LHP (22-6)
2A Region 1
San Jose Prep 48 TFA 42
Providence 58, Bishop Snyder 35
No. 2 SJP (19-9) at No. 1 Providence (22-5)
2A Region 2
John Carroll 59, Foundation 48
Holy Trinity 66, West Shore 8
No. 2 JC (24-3) at No. 1 HT (18-12)
1A Region 2
North Tampa Christian 71, Altamonte Christian 49
Orlando Christian Prep 52, CFCA 47
No. 2 NTC (20-8) at No. 1 OCP (19-7)
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays,
