No. 4 Gateway girls hold off challenge from No. 5 Franklin Regional in Section 2-5A

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, January 17, 2019 | 10:21 PM

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Just about every time Gateway coach Curtis Williams gathered with his girls basketball team during timeouts he asked, “OK, who has Cali?”

It was a familiar refrain echoing from the Gators’ huddle.

Gateway made sure it kept track of Franklin Regional senior guard Cali Konek as she moved through the offense and kicked out for perimeter shots on Thursday night.

And while the streaky Konek had herself a night, inciting the home crowd with her long-range shooting, the fourth-ranked Gators came away with the victory, edging past No. 5 Franklin Regional, 50-46, in a Section 2-5A first-place clash in Murrysville.

Konek, a Charlotte recruit, connected on six 3-pointers before fouling out with a game-high 22 points — 14 in the second half. But Gateway (12-3, 6-1) used a rebounding advantage to overtake the upstart Panthers (9-4, 5-2), who saw a five-game winning streak end.

Gateway has won eight of nine.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game coming in,” Williams said. “Cali Konek showed what she is. She kept them in the game in the second half with her timely shooting and big shots, tough, contested shots.”

Gateway’s 6-foot-3 junior center, Lexi Jackson, whose scholarship offers include Western Michigan, James Madison, North Carolina A&T and Radford, led the defending WPIAL champions with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

“Two things hurt us tonight,” Franklin Regional coach Anthony Kobus said. “We didn’t box out well, and we didn’t match their intensity to start the second half. It was tough to play catch-up in the fourth quarter.”

Gateway was given a much better game this time around after it beat the Panthers, 57-34, earlier just up the road in Monroeville.

Gateway led by 10 (45-35) with about four minutes remaining in their second meeting, but Konek splashed in three consecutive 3-pointers to cut it to 47-44 with 1:06 left.

“Our girls keep playing hard every night, and that is great to see,” Kobus said. “When they were down 10 in the third quarter they didn’t quit. This section is just so tough from top to bottom.”

Franklin Regional upset No. 2 Mars on Jan. 2, 52-51. Gateway lost to the Planets, 54-42.

On Thursday, Reitz made a pair of free throws with 10.8 seconds on the clock to make it 48-46, but Konek was whistled for her fifth foul with 7.7 to go, and senior Jenna Guido made a pair from the line for the final points.

Freshman Alexis Margolis scored 10 for Gateway.

Senior Alex Reitz also played well for the Panthers with 15 points.

“We try to play together and stay together,” Williams said. “Anybody is capable of stepping up.”

Gateway led 14-6 in the opening quarter after a 3 from Guido. A back-and-forth second quarter saw the Panthers trim it to 16-15 on a layup by senior Jordan Yaniga — credit junior Noelle Boyd with the assist.

After Gateway’s Margolis nailed a 3 from the wing, the Panthers scored the final eight points of the first half, including consecutive 3s from Konek, to take a 25-22 lead into the break.

“We had a lot of blown assignments in the second quarter and missed a lot of layups in the first half,” Williams said. “We had to get out and defend, play good, team defense.”

Gateway, though, limited the Panthers to eight points in the third and stretched the margin to 39-30 after a three-point play by Jackson.

“Gateway is a very good team,” Kobus said. “Our girls are seeing what it takes to play with these teams. We’re beyond just showing up for these games, though. We lost to two of the top 6A teams and Gateway twice. We’re beyond moral victories.”

Guido and sophomore Dynasty Shegog each scored nine for the Gators.

Yaniga finished with seven points. Just four girls scored for the Panthers.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Gateway