Just past the quarter-way mark of their 23-game regular season schedule, the Gatewood Gators remain undefeated with a 6-0 record.
The team’s latest victory, a 67-44 decision over the visiting Cougars from Piedmont Academy, came last Friday night, led by a 31-point effort from junior Matt Allen.
Three days earlier, senior guard Kaden Keiser scored his 1,000th high school career point in a tight 79-76 win over Mount de Sales in Macon. Allen was good for 38 points, Keiser finished with 19, and Landon Moreno was third on the scoring list with 7 points.
Prior to the start of the game against Piedmont, Keiser was recognized in a brief pre-game ceremony in front of the hometown fans.
“He had to have 14 points there (at Mount de Sales) to get to 1,000, and it was very intense because we were killing them at halftime, but then they came back and made a run on us,” recalled Gatewood head coach Don Keiser, who also is Kaden’s father. “But then Kaden hit the last nine points in the fourth quarter, and right in the middle of those points, he hit a layup to put him over 14. But I mean, I wasn’t paying attention to that at the time. It was at the end of the game that my wife — she keeps the [stats] book — she told me.”
Regardless, the coach called the accomplishment “a very big deal,” pointing out that he and his other two sons scored “about 800 points each,” with his father being the only other player in the family to break the 1,000-point barrier.
“So that was pretty cool. It was a cool moment. I was happy for him. I mean, he’s worked hard, and he deserves it,” Keiser added of Kaden. “We’re all really proud of him, but we really needed those points then, too. So, that’s all I was thinking of at the time.”
Keiser said MDS was coming on strong in the final quarter, but his team was running into foul trouble. Allen, Kaden Keiser, Lake Ferman, and Ames Johnson each had four fouls apiece and faced ejection with one more.
“It was crazy,” Keiser declared. “We were having to play very soft defense, and they were able to score, but we came away with it at the end, and we got the ball with five seconds to go, and that was it.”
In Friday’s game against Piedmont, the Gators were up 37-17 by halftime. After three quarters, the score was 54-34. Keiser said he was able to “clear the bench” in the final quarter to give his younger players some valuable game-time experience.
Allen was again the team’s top scorer with 31. Kaden Keiser was second on the list with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. He also had three assists and led the Gators with eight rebounds. Senior JT Gregory slotted into third with 9 points, while four players scored 2 points each.
Gatewood plays this Thursday at Westfield in Perry and then hosts a rare 4 p.m. Saturday game against GMC Prep from Milledgeville.
“We’re doing pretty good, but our region will be tough. Brentwood and CFCA (Central Fellowship Christian Academy) are looking pretty good,” Keiser cautioned. “But this team’s coming together and growing every game, so I’m hoping we can get a lot of practice in and be ready for anyone over Christmas.”