Gates’ final game for Lady Falcons bittersweet
Rob Burchianti
Skyler Gates has a collegiate women’s volleyball career at the University of Virginia ahead of her and the Brownsville senior will graduate early from high school to get a head start on that next endeavor.
Gates played her final game for the Lady Falcons, a Section 3-3A battle against Seton LaSalle, on Thursday night at Brownsville and it wound up being a bittersweet ending. The 6-foot-4 center poured in 35 points but the Lady Rebels’ Ava Maroney sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the visitors a 62-61 victory.
Maroney finished with a team-high 26 points as Seton LaSalle improved to 3-0 in the section and 5-1 overall by avoiding the upset. Brownsville fell to 0-3 and 2-5.
The Lady Falcons held a 61-59 lead with nine seconds left before Maroney dribbled down and hit her game-winning trey.
Natalie Pascarella added 17 points for the Lady Rebels.
Brownsville led 17-11, 31-26 and 45-42 at the quarter breaks but Seton LaSalle held a 20-16 edge in the final frame.
Ava Clark followed Gates in the Lady Falcons’ scoring column with 20 points. Clark is now 40 points away from the 1,000-point milestone. Gates went over 1,000 points for her career last season.