A six-game undefeated streak to open the 2024-25 season came to an end for Gatewood (7-1) last Thursday in Perry, where the Westfield Hornets (5-5) downed the Gators 64-57. But the Gators got back on the winning track Saturday afternoon against GMC Prep, posting a dominant 78-34 victory over the visiting Bulldogs.
Head coach Don Keiser said Westfield “played a great first half” and prevailed in a seesaw battle that saw the Hornets up by a 12-point advantage at one point. Gatewood battled back, though, and the teams were tied at 30 heading into halftime.
Back-and-forth play resumed in the third quarter, but Keiser said his team ran into foul trouble in the final period, allowing Westfield to hold its sevenpoint lead to the end of the game.
“Once we started fouling them, nothing seemed to go our way,” Keiser said. “Tipped balls, balls out of bounds, we just couldn’t grab them. They forced us to play their game and we just didn’t have our usual composure.”
Keiser said the biggest setback of the loss for the 2A Gators would be hurting them in playoff rankings, but he also pointed out Westfield is a much larger 4A school.
Two weeks earlier, Gatewood had beaten GMC Prep 80-32 in Milledgeville, and from the opening tipoff on Saturday, it appeared a repeat performance was likely on its way. The Gators held a 27-8 lead after the opening quarter, and it took nearly three minutes into the second quarter before the Bulldogs put double digits on the scoreboard.
The GMC game was briefly paused early in the first quarter to recognize junior Matt Allen becoming Gatewood’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Scott Haley, who now serves as Putnam County’s recreation director but was unable to attend the game due to prior obligations.
Allen’s record-breaking shot came after senior Kaden Keiser made a nice dish from beneath the basket to him on the right side of the key. Allen then scored on an easy layup. After previously hitting a 3-pointer, the basket pushed Allen past Haley’s long-standing 1,664-point record to 1,665. He finished the game as the Gators’ top scorer with 27 points, boosting the school record to 1,687 with 13 regular season games and playoffs yet to come.
The game was stopped just long enough for Allen to pose for photos alongside his coach, and then with his parents, Mark and April Allen.
Once the game resumed, Gatewood was up 45-16 at halftime, and by the middle of the third quarter, Keiser was sitting most of his first string to provide more game-time experience to his underclassmen. Sophomore Luke Martin impressed with 13 points to place second to Allen in scoring while senior JT Gregory was third with eight points.
“I do like the way we played tonight. We did a lot of things better than we had been doing. Sometimes when you know you’re going to win like that, it’s good to see them doing the right things,” Keiser said after the game.
“That’s what we want to see against teams like that. We want to see that we run the plays right, that we execute. And I thought Jake (Rich) really had a good game rebounding and Ames (Johnson) is just starting to really understand and get the plays. I can see he’s starting to get much more comfortable. Everybody’s just starting to step up.”
After the Christmas break, Keiser and the Gators will turn their attention to attending a tournament on Friday at Mount Pisgah Christian in Johns Creek. The team’s next league game is a rematch at home Jan. 3 against Mount de Sales Academy. The Gators won 79-76 over the Cavaliers Dec. 10 in their tightest game of the season so far.