Lake Wales regroups to beat Gateway

LAKE WALES — Lake Wales appeared on its way to a one-sided victory after taking a 16-point lead over Gateway early in the third quarter only to find itself trailing by five points with about three minutes to play.

The Highlanders, however, fought back and got clutch free throws from Chanelle McDonald and Alexia Witherspoon in the final 23 seconds that lifted Lake Wales to a 61-59 victory over Gateway on Thursday night in the Class 5A, Region 2 quarterfinals.

The victory was the Highlanders' first playoff win since 2013 when they advanced to the regional finals. Lake Wales (13-5) now will play at Melbourne Palm Bay in the regional semifinals on Tuesday.

"We just had to keep fighting," Lake Wales coach Kindreek Williams said. "It's been a long time coming for the Highlanders. I'm proud of these young ladies. They just keep fighting."

With Lake Wales trailing 59-57 with under 30 seconds left, McDonald went to the free-throw line. On her previous two trips to the line, she went 1-for-2, but this time she sank both shots to tie the score.

"I wasn't nervous," she said. "It was just one of those things. You just shoot the ball."

McDonald finished with a team-high 30 points, her third consecutive game reaching that mark.

Witherspoon, who scored six points, was then fouled on a 3-point attempt with 17 seconds left and hit the first two free throws to give Lake Wales the victory.

"I was a little nervous, but I took my time and made them count," Witherspoon said.

In the first half, Lake Wales took a 17-16 lead into the second quarter and began to take control of the game. McDonald made her presence felt in the quarter by scoring 11 points as Lake Wales outscored Gateway 19-7 to take a 36-23 lead at halftime.

Danshelle Mickel, who finished with 10 points, sank a 3-pointer to start the third quarter to push Lake Wales' lead to 16 points. 

Gateway fought back as the Panthers forced turnovers and sank 3-pointers. After Mickel's 3-pointer, Gateway outscored Lake Wales 32-10 over the next 10 minutes to take a 55-49 lead with about three minutes to play in the game.

"We just slacked on our defense," McDonald said. "We got too comfortable knowing that we had a pretty decent lead. We got too comfortable and they came out with a lot more heart than us, and we just had to get it together."

Gateway sank five 3-pointers in the second half.

Lake Wales reeled Gateway back in with a free throw from McDonald, two free throws from Witherspoon and back-to-back field goals from McDonald that put Lake Wales back on top 56-55 to set up the final two minutes.

Vanessa Diaz hit five 3-pointers and led Gateway with 24 points.