PUTNAM COUNTY
“Just nothing went our way.”
That was the simple takeaway of Gatewood head coach Don Keiser after a dominant 2023-24 season ended Saturday afternoon for his region championship-winning team.
The Gators fell 67-57 to region rivals Brentwood in the state quarterfinals at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon. It marked the fourth meeting with Brentwood for the Gators this season, who won all three previous games.
Brentwood headed into halftime with a slim 27-24 lead. A tight, defensive-minded battle continued throughout the third quarter as both teams went back and forth with the advantage.
They were tied at 46 with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter, but that’s when Brentwood started to pull away and the Gators never held the point again.
“Having to play a team for the fourth time is never easy. We beat them by 30, 25, and 12 earlier this season but this time just everything went their way,” Keiser said, pointing out Brentwood scored an inordinate number of three-pointers against his defense. “One of their guys hit a three that didn’t even hit a shot the whole year,” he added. “And their number 23 (Zyion Andrews), he had a good game, too.”
Unfortunately, Gatewood sophomore Matt Allen, who led the Gators and Region 2-AA in scoring throughout this season, wasn’t feeling well heading into the game, yet still managed to put 34 points on the board.
Keiser’s son, junior Kaden Keiser, added 15 points with six assists, while senior Blake Callaway had four points. Trey Wiggins, the only other senior on the Gatewood roster, contributed two points, as did freshman Landon Moreno to round out the Gators’ scoring.
“I really don’t think we played that bad. I just think (Brentwood) did things that they hadn’t done all year. I mean, shooting-wise, in 2023 they just hadn’t scored that many points,” Keiser said.
Keiser also revealed this game marked the third time he’d coached at Tatnall and each time he’s had the same locker room, defended the same basket to start the game, and sat on the same bench.
“I didn’t tell the kids, but I’ve never won in that gym,” he said. “And I just had a weird feeling going in. I felt like it was almost like the juju was against us.
“But it was a very good year,” Keiser countered. “We went 24 and 3, so I can’t argue with that, and region champs, we did beat them (Brentwood) for the region. So, I wanted the boys to hold their heads up. It was a great year. Didn’t lose one home game all season and I’ve never had that before in my coaching career. We protected our house. And I’ve been the head coach (at Gatewood) for three years now and we’re 70 and 13, so that’s pretty good.
“But like I said, they held us to 57 points and we averaged 70-something all year, so that would’ve been enough. But really, nothing went our way.”
The No. 3-ranked Gators reached the state quarterfinals by beating No. 11 Edmund Burke Academy 97-69 on Feb. 21 in their playoff opener at home in Eatonton.
Allen led the way in scoring for Gatewood with 48 points, while Callaway scored a double-double with a career-high 26 points and 12 total rebounds. No other Gators reached double digits in scoring, but 8th-grader Brady Haley was third on the team with seven points.
Looking forward to the 2024-25 season, Keiser said he’s going to miss seniors Callaway and Wiggins, calling them both “great kids and great players.”
He’s looking forward, though, to his son being even more of a team leader as a senior next season, as well as to the progression of Allen, who earlier this season had already scored his 1,000th point as a sophomore.
Additionally, he expects current juniors Jake Rich and JT Gregory to be even more impactful as seniors, while Moreno, Lake Ferman, Luke Martin, Harrison Harper, and Haley are all expected to return as well.
“I liked the way we’re playing as a team and we have a lot of good, returning players, so I’m feeling pretty good about the future,” Keiser said.