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Maylayna Stevenson (20), Karli Cole (12) and Alyssa Marino (3) are returning starters from Gateway’s Class 5A Final Four basketball team. FILE PHOTO
Last season was notable in Osceola County on several fronts, and the 2023-24 season should be no different. Both Gateway and St. Cloud return the majority of their 20-win teams, while Harmony and Osceola continue to be on the upswing.
St. Cloud went 21-7 and won their fifth consecutive Orange Belt Conference championship, but saw their season come to a swift end when they lost back-to-back games against Lake Gibson in the district final and first round of regionals. Longtime Coach Chad Ansbaugh said a combination of season-long injuries and perhaps some conditioning issues were responsible for the sudden post-season departure. “We had a lot of nagging injuries all season to key players and we simply weren’t very healthy at the end,” Ansbaugh said. “But I also think we didn’t spend enough time on conditioning last year which may have contributed to the injuries and we intend to fix that this season.”
What St. Cloud does have is a lot of returning talent. Seniors Emily Lockey (14.4 ppg) and center Haley Collins (11.1, 5 rpg) return, as do guards Danigzy Mantilla, Jaclyn Bonilla and Vanessa Vohs. Although they have been in the program for a couple of years, Ansbaugh is also high on forwards Savannah Kroener (Jr.) and Dani Mann (Sr.). “Those two have looked entirely different in pre-season camp,” Ansbaugh noted. “They have worked extremely hard in the off-season and should be key contributors for us.”
Ansbaugh added that up to three freshmen could make the team, with forward Syani Barrios having a chance to be an impact player.
Gateway finished 24-7 and advanced to the Class 5A Final Four for the first time. Coach Justin Marino loses just one starter off that team, but it’s county Player of the Year Vanessa Diaz. On top of that, two transfers that were expected to help left before the start of school.
Still, Marino has plenty of firepower back – including Malayna Stevenson, a “big” who is exceptional at driving the ball to the hoop. She averaged 19.3 points per game last season. Karli Cole (6.2 ppg) returns as does Evana Rivera (6.2 ppg) but look for sophomore guard Alyssa Marino (6.3 ppg, 5.5 apg) to make up for a lot of the scoring lost with the departure of Diaz. Gateway should also get a boost from Karyna Rivera, a transfer from St. Cloud.
“Alyssa is a shooting guard by trade. She averaged about 18 points per game the last two years in AAU, but we turned her into a point guard last year out of necessity,” Justin Marino said of his daughter. “We anticipate her being more of a scorer for us. I firmly believe our starters can play with anyone, obviously if we have injuries or foul trouble, depth could be an issue.”
After Harmony won just 10 total games in the previous three years, Paul Strauch took the Longhorns to a 16-5 record. Although top player Faith Werner transferred, Strauch welcomes back four solid players in Ellah Husbands, Jayme Montanez, Emerson Aslan, and Dalianys Valez. Husbands (flag football) and Aslan (softball) are multi-sport standouts.
Strauch says that although Werner will be missed, he has “A solid group of veterans and some promising newcomers returning,” and although the program is not on quite on the same level as the Bulldogs or Panthers, “We anticipate being competitive all year.”
After Osceola won just three games in the previous season, first-year coach Rashawna Sippio turned the program around as they reached 10 wins. Freshmen Zabrielle Canaday (13.8 ppg) and Kayden Gause (13.6 ppg) led the way but both ended up transferring in the off-season. Still, Sippio believes her team will take a step forward and not a step back.
“We had 30 players show up for tryouts so the interest in our program is there. We had two good players transfer in and we are bigger and more athletic than we were a season ago,” she said.
One future star should be the addition of 6-4 freshman Brooklyn Sippio, the coach’s niece. She is coming off a volleyball season where she helped the Lady Kowboys to a regional final and has already looked good in pre-season workouts. “She’s pretty new and raw to basketball, but you can see her athleticism,” Aunt Rashawna says. “She has a chance to be a special athlete.”
Joining young Sippio is transfers Alma Santana and Tayla Walker; along with fellow first-year players Jewelie Lazo, Katherine Sweets and Jamylah Williams.
After winning just five games in their first three years, Tohopekaliga won 16 in the last two years as Jen Farrell continues to build her program. Seniors Makena Day (11.1 ppg) and Sophia Delgado (9.8 ppg) will be joined by sophomores Kenya Allen (8.5 ppg) and Angela Alverado (6.0 ppg) to give the Tigers a solid group of starters.
Elsewhere around the county, Peter Ramos takes over at Poinciana, where the Eagles were 9-10 last season. Kenyatta Long is the new head coach at Celebration. Both will be a rebuilding mode in 2023-24; as will second year Liberty Coach Raul Natera.
“We have five contributors back from last year and some promising new talent,” Long said about the Storm. “Our goal is simply to teach fundamentals, work hard and try to get better each practice, each game and each week.”
Natera has two experienced starters back in India Smith (Sr., PG) and Yamilet Pabon (Jr., SG) but adds he is excited about newcomers Jade Morris (Fr.) and Christine Mossey (So.), who he calls “athletically gifted.”
