Gators gain momentum heading into playoffs

Following a 78-68 home win over Westminster Christian Academy (WCA) last Tuesday, then scoring an 84-52 win on the road Friday night over Piedmont Academy, the Gatewood boys’ basketball team holds an 18-2 overall record for 2023-24, including 4-0 in region play.

Despite the win over WCA, Gatewood head coach Don Keiser wasn’t particularly impressed by his team’s early performance that evening.

“We looked out of shape tonight,” he said. “They (WCA) were a very physical, scrappy team and they were pushing it. They were playing pretty much as quick as we were. And we haven’t met too many teams as quick as we are.”

Keiser also said his main post player, Trey Wiggins, was out sick “and that definitely hurt us,” but added that he felt his players “were just doing too much individual stuff,” especially in the first half.

Still, the Gators managed to take a 40-37 advantage into the break, despite losing the second quarter, 21-16. A halftime pep talk seemed to work wonders, though, as the home team came out firing, outscoring WCA 38-31 in the second half for the 78-68 final.

Junior Kaden Keiser led Gatewood with 29 points, with sophomore Matt Allen contributing 19 points and eight deflections, despite playing with a nagging wrist injury.

Senior Blake Callaway scored another double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while freshman Landon Moreno notched a career-high 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and had seven rebounds, too.

“We played better in the second half, more in control,” Keiser said. “Really, I thought they all played good. That team played us hard.”

Still missing Wiggins, the Gators traveled to Monticello Friday night for a rematch with the Piedmont Academy Cougars, who fell 105-42 less than two weeks earlier on a night when Allen reset Gatewood’s all-time, single-game scoring record to 51 points.

On Friday, Allen was again Gatewood’s top scorer, showing no sign of his prior injury as he drained 47 points, including 11 three-point shots (nine in a row, including only threes, six times in the third quarter) while also going four-for-four from the free-throw line.

J.T. Gregory also managed to reach double digits against Piedmont, with a career-high 10 points, while Callaway scored eight points with 16 offensive rebounds plus six rebounds on defense, Keiser contributed five points and six assists, and Jake Rich had six rebounds.

Piedmont and Gatewood traded a pair of threes each off the opening tip-off, with Gregory scoring both times for the Gators. Despite having only two subs on the bench, the Cougars hung tough early on, but just couldn’t weather the Gatewood storm and fell behind 49-23 by halftime.

With a 78-32 advantage by the end of the third quarter, Keiser rested his starters and gave his subs and JV players some time on the court, leading to being outscored 20-6 in the final eight minutes.

“Everybody got to play tonight. That’s the kind of game you like as a coach; everybody gets to play. I enjoyed that,” Keiser said afterward. “But our guys just did what they had to do. And when Matt’s hitting like that, any team’s going to have a problem with him.”

Next to have a problem would be the Augusta Prep Day Cavaliers in Gatewood’s final non-region game of the year. With just two games left in the regular season, the Gators added a 19th win this past Monday night in Augusta with a 58-48 final over Augusta Prep Day.

This week, Gatewood will face WCA once more as visitors in Watkinsville on Tuesday (after press time) before returning home for its final regular-season game at 6 p.m. Friday against region-rival Brentwood.

The Gators will host the GIAA Region 2 AA playoffs the following week, Feb. 13 and 16, and will play in the final game each night, regardless of results.