Last week, the Gatewood boys’ basketball team captured the GIAA Class AA District 2/4 championship by defeating rival Brentwood Academy.
Led by senior Jackson Morris, the Gators upended the War Eagles 69-53 Friday night. Morris scored a game-high 30 points, with 24 of them off 3-pointers. He shot 66 percent (8-of-12) from beyond the arc in the district title game.
“It was a good win,” Gatewood head coach Don Keiser said. “We finally got to cut down the nets.”
The Gators hopped on Brentwood early. The Gators’ offensive attack was relentless from the jump. Gatewood won the opening tip-off and guard Kaden Keiser got hold of the ball. Soon after, he fired a pass to a wide-open Morris for a triple in the first 10 seconds of the game.
Morris’ first score set the tone, as the fourth-ranked Gators never trailed in the game, leading the War Eagles 24-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Kaden Keiser had 12 points and Blake Callaway totaled nine points in the win. Walker Roberts also scored eight points, while Gatewood’s season-leading scorer Matt Allen added six points.
“We jumped on ‘em,” the coach said. “We got up 23 points early, although we weren’t getting calls our way. We were charged eight fouls to their two, but we played through it.”
Gatewood (20-4, 5-1 Region 4-AA) immediately shifted its focus to the postseason, which began Wednesday at 6 p.m. at home in Eatonton against No. 13 seed Southwest Georgia Academy.
Despite the Warriors’ 8-16 overall record in 2022-23, they could be a tough test for Gatewood.
“You’ve got to get that first playoff (game) out of the way,” Keiser said. “I don’t care what state or region this is, it’s the big dance, and every team comes to play. The first one is tough.”
Last season, the Gators faced an inferior Memorial Day squad and won a close 54-52 game. So, Keiser hopes his team has learned not to take a lower-seeded opponent for granted.
“They look good on both ends but play a stingy 2-3 (zone) on defense,” Keiser said of SGA. “I just don’t think they played in as tough of a region as ours, though.”
Keiser knows he’ll need each of his top players to step up. Overall, the Gators were consistent during the regular season, but they have to maintain a high level of performance to make a run at winning the Class AA state title.
“I feel like if we do our business, then we should win. It’s just about playing like we’re capable,” Keiser said. “That first game is always strange. We just need to get through it.”