Just as he had last Wednesday night at home in Eatonton, Gatewood senior JT Gregory opened the scoring Saturday afternoon at Stratford Academy in Macon with a nothing-but-net 3-pointer.
Wednesday’s heroics led to an 88-56 finish over Heritage Prep in the opening round of state playoffs. But Gregory’s equally impressive start on Saturday eventually led to a heartbreaking 64-62 loss in the game’s dying seconds against region rival Brentwood to end the Gators’ 2024-25 season.
“We had ‘em the entire game, start to finish, but just couldn’t hold on long enough right at the end,” head coach Don Keiser said upon emerging from the Gatewood locker room. “Just two strong rivals playing hard, and somebody’s got to win, and somebody’s got to lose. We knew, me and their coach, we knew it would probably come down to one play in the end. And they got it.”
Junior Matt Allen again led Gatewood’s scoring on Wednesday with 28 points, but Gregory enjoyed a career night with 26 points, including a team-leading six 3-pointers. Sophomore Landon Moreno was third overall in scoring with four 3-point shots going in, while Kaden Keiser scored a double-double with 11 points and 13 assists against Heritage Prep.
Gatewood led 50-30 at halftime and 73-42 after three quarters. The game’s clock was reduced from eight to six minutes for the final period.
Shortly after the final quarter at home began, the game was briefly paused for the large home crowd to give Gatewood’s seniors — Gregory, K. Keiser, Ames Johnson, and Jake Rich — a rousing standing ovation for their final game appearance on the Gators’ home court.
“I love every one of those guys, so that was very nice,” Keiser stated.
In Macon, the game remained tight throughout. Gatewood held just a one-point advantage after the first quarter and led 32-30 at halftime.
It was the fourth time the Gators had faced off against the War Eagles this year. They split the regular season, with each team winning at home. But Brentwood beat Gatewood in Eatonton to open the region playoffs this year.
The Gators remained on top 46-42 after the third quarter at Stratford, but momentum began to shift late in the final quarter.
On a 26-point night, Brentwood’s Baylor Cobb contributed 10 points in the fourth alone, including the game-winner with just over five seconds left on the clock.
“We lost sight of a player, and he got behind us, but that coach did a real good play to get that last bucket,” Keiser said.
K. Keiser then made a last gasp attempt as the final few seconds ticked away, but his shot was blocked just as the buzzer sounded to end Gatewood’s season and hopes.
“I don't know if I should have called the time out there as soon as they made it, but it was five seconds. And I saw Kaden coming up the sideline, so I thought, ‘Well, he got open; he’s got it moving, so just let it go.’ So, we had it in the right person’s hands, but it just didn’t work out.”
After the game, Keiser focused on his players’ effort and character after a long, hard-fought season ended a little earlier than hoped for.
“The boys just fought so hard. They did everything we worked on in practice and everything just went so good,” the coach said. “I could not be more proud of all these players, and especially the seniors. I mean, 20-6 and get to the Elite Eight is not a bad season. But we’re going to miss these seniors next year, I'll tell you that.
“But Matt [Allen] will go back to work, so at least we have one more year of him. And I'm very happy about the group coming up. A bunch of young players with some good potential,” Keiser continued. “But it's just a hard pill to swallow when you lose to your biggest rival. We played them four times this year, and this was the 15th time in four years, so yeah, we see them a lot.”