Gatewood wrapped up its 2023-24 regular season with an 81-69 win at home Friday night over region rival Brentwood. The win left the Gators with a 21-2 overall record and 6-0 in region play.
They are seeded No. 1 heading into the GIAA Region 2-AA tournament, hosted at Gatewood on Tuesday (after press time) and Friday this week in Eatonton.
Sophomore scoring sensation Matt Allen increased his school single-game scoring record from 51 to 54 points against Brentwood. He had eight three-point shots in his total and went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Gatewood also visited Westminster Christian Academy in Watkinsville last Tuesday and left with an 85-48 win, led by 35 points from Allen, with Blake Callaway and Kaden Keiser also scoring double digits with 14 and 11 points, respectively. The game also marked the return of senior Trey Wiggins, who scored six points with 10 rebounds after missing a couple of games due to an illness.
The win was never in doubt for Gatewood as it led each quarter and held a solid 50-25 advantage at halftime.
“We went in after we lost there last year and I said we aren’t going to do that again,” Gators head coach Don Keiser said. “We just came out with a full team effort and just never looked back.”
On Friday, the Gators jumped out to a 19-13 lead after the opening quarter and still led by just six points at halftime after both teams added another 15 to their totals. A 19-point third quarter gave the Gators a 14-point lead at 53-39, followed by a 30-28 final period in favor of Brentwood to reach the final tally.
Allen was the only Gators shooter in double digits, followed by Kaden Keiser at 9 points with a team-leading five assists and five rebounds, and Blake Callaway with six points, three assists, and nine rebounds. Wiggins scored just three points against his freshman school, but led the team in total rebounds with 10, while Allen grabbed seven rebounds.
Though he made just one 3-pointer in the third quarter, head coach Keiser singled out freshman Landon Moreno for his play against the visiting War Eagles. Keiser said he tasked Moreno with covering Brentwood’s Baylor Cobb, a fellow freshman who gave the Gators fits when they visited Sandersville.
“He’s just such a good athlete. Landon played football, too, and had to be pushed into duty when Evan (Bennett) went down (with an injury), and he just stepped up. He’s just that type of athlete, just a tough kid who’s going to hustle and give you everything he’s got. And like I said, he shut down their number 12 (Cobb), which is all I asked him to do.”
In this week’s region tournament, Gatewood will play 4th-place Region 2-AA finisher Piedmont Academy (2-23, 0-6) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Gators recently defeated Piedmont 105-42 at home in their highest-scoring game this season, followed by an 84-52 victory early this month in Monticello.
In Tuesday’s early matchup to determine Friday’s finalists, No. 2 Brentwood (18-5, 4-2) will take on Westminster (4-17, 2-4) at 4:30 p.m., with a girls’ region game at 6 p.m. between the boys’ games.