Gatewood basketball coach Don Keiser is playing for the future. After 13 games so far this season, his Gators are 2-11 and 0-2 in region play.
Still, the veteran coach sees promise in his young team.
“It’s what we expected, but dang, we’re getting better,” Keiser said last Friday night after a 73-39 drubbing delivered to the Gators by Brentwood. “I’ve said it every time, and I mean it, I can see it, we’re getting better even if the score doesn’t look like it.
“And remember, that’s the first-place tea,m and we’re 19th. So not really unexpected.”
The Gators were down 24-14 after the opening quarter, with Brentwood leading 43-27 at halftime.
When it was 67-37 after the third quarter, both coaches gave their subs some playing time to reach the final score.
“I think our guys just got worn out in the second half, but I also wasn’t happy with the way we came out kind of lackadaisical with the ball,” Keiser said. “I thought we needed to press more, at least as much as we could.”
Keiser recognizes his team is in a rebuilding phase after graduating several strong players last season that helped the Gators to compete every night. This year, he’s down to just two seniors, veteran Lake Ferman and Drew Clevenger, who is new to the sport.
“I actually thought Lake played his best game of the year tonight,” Keiser said after last Friday’s loss. “He was physical and playing hard, but unfortunately got into foul trouble. But he’s learning and playing hard,d so that’s all he needs to do.”
Keiser also mentioned the contributions of junior Landon Moreno and brothers Brady and Bennett Haley, who each figured prominently on the score sheet, with Moreno and eighth-grader Bennett each scoring 10 points, while sophomore Brady hit a trio of three-point shots.
Sophomore Harrison Harper earned some recognition, too, as Keiser mentioned a pair of threepointers going in for him.
“I’ve got my five, but then I just kind of rotate everyone through. I’m still looking for my sixth,” he added.
Gatewood also played last Saturday at Augusta Prep, a non-region team that it beat at home, 66-42, on Dec. 2, for the first win of the season. The result reversed in Augusta, however, as the Cavaliers won 58-42, as Moreno was the Gators’ top scorer with 17, followed by Brady Haley with 13, and Ferman with 6 points.
The Gators next face a three-game homestand against a trio of region rivals. Trinity Christian visits from Dublin on Tuesday night, with Macon’s Central Fellowship Christian in town Friday, followed by Windsor, also from Macon, on Jan. 20.