PUTNAM COUNTY
Gatewood’s boys basketball team improved its record to 12-1 last week with consecutive-day wins over Thomas Jefferson Academy in Louisville, Windsor Academy in Macon, and at home in Eatonton Saturday night versus Westfield School, also out of Macon.
In what head coach Don Keiser said was the first time he’d faced three regular season games in three days with the Gators, they downed Thomas Jefferson’s Jaguars, 80-57, on Thursday night in Louisville, led by a 30-point effort from sophomore Matt Allen that included five 3-pointers.
Keiser’s son, Kaden, contributed 17 points to the total, with Adam Harvey the third Gator to reach double digits with 10 points.
“We came out and played really good and were able to rest a lot of our guys there, so that was good,” Keiser said.
It paid off the next night in Macon, where Gatewood held on for a 79-76 win, marking the team’s closest margin of victory so far this season. Again, Allen was Gatewood’s top scorer at 33 points, followed by 23 from Kaden Keiser and 12 by Blake Callaway.
“We beat Windsor by 30 when we played at home, but they came out and started hitting threes and made it close. We were up 37-35 at the half and just stayed back and forth the rest of the game,” Keiser said. “They were hitting everything, nine threes, I think.
“But we played, we gritted it out and Matt (Allen) fouled out in the fourth quarter, so Kaden (Keiser) had to step up. He stepped up and got 13 in the fourth quarter … everybody stepped up for a good win.”
After posting a convincing 71-36 decision over the visiting Hornets from Westfield Saturday night in Eatonton, the coach said his “bigs,” seniors Callaway and Trey Wiggins, along with junior Jake Rich and sophomore Lake Ferman, played much better against Westfield than they’d managed the night before against Windsor.
“They were the stars of the show tonight,” Keiser declared. “They all just boxed out and my guards were on, too. I thought we got back to playing our team ball. Everybody shared it and I think everybody scored, but my bigs were the stars of this game tonight. I challenged them and they boxed out and that made the difference.
“We’ve just been turning and relying on our athletic ability, but you’ve got to use a little physicality sometimes, too,” the coach continued. “And that’s what they did tonight. Like I said, I guarantee they were the stars of this game and both of them had double-digit rebounds. Now, it came against a team that we should beat, but that’s still a good confidence builder for those guys in teaching them that boxing them out does work.”
Despite a slightly early exit, Allen was again the Gators’ top scorer with 31 points, followed by Kaden Keiser at 13 and Callaway was credited with 11 points. Wiggins was the best of the rest with six points scored, including two from the free-throw line.
The Gators return to Macon this Tuesday (after press time) to take on First Presbyterian Day, then meet Augusta Prep Day for the first time this season at 6 p.m. Friday in Eatonton.
Then Saturday at 4:30 p.m., Gatewood (12-1) will look to pay back the visiting Trinity Christian Crusaders (7-7), who handed the Gators their only loss so far this year, a high-scoring 89-72 decision last month in Dublin.