Gateway boys basketball has date with Laurel Highlands circled on calendar

By: Michael Love
Sunday, December 18, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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The Laurel Highlands boys basketball team won its second WPIAL Class 5A title in three years last season and had high hopes for a run in the PIAA tournament.

But Gateway, which made a run to the WPIAL semifinals and qualified for states, played spoiler in the quarterfinals.

The Gators stopped the Mustangs and standout scorer Rodney Gallagher, 55-52.

The teams will meet Thursday at Laurel Highlands in the rematch of that PIAA clash. The Mustangs, with Gallagher and senior Keondre DeShields at the core of the team, hope for a measure of revenge as Gateway seeks another signature early-season win.

Gateway rallied past Woodland Hills, 57-51, on Dec. 14 to improve to 3-2 on the season.

“That is a game both teams circled on the calendar,” senior guard MJ Stevenson said of the matchup with Laurel Highlands. “That is a big game for us. We want to show that last year’s game wasn’t a fluke.”

The Mustangs, who dropped down to Class 4A, started out 4-0 and averaged 71.8 points a game in defeating Mt. Lebanon, McDowell, McKeesport and Connellsville.

They were to play at Norwin on Friday and host Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday – both games were to be played past this week’s deadline – before turning their focus to the Gators.

“We need to get better for our next game, and we have practices to do that,” Gateway junior forward Taili Thompson said. “We’re looking forward to playing Laurel Highlands again. We have to play our best to beat them. Everyone will have to step up. It should be a pretty fun game.”

Thompson led all scorers with 23 points, senior guard Jaydon Carr added 13, and Stevenson contributed 10 in the six-point win over the Wolverines.

“It is a rivalry game, and it was a good win, a good team win,” Stevenson said.

Woodland Hills, which fell to 4-2 with the loss, led 18-10 after the first quarter and 29-25 at halftime.

Gateway turned things around with a 20-10 advantage in the third quarter.

Thompson sank a pair of free throws with 6:30 left in the fourth to put the Gators up 49-41. He took a seat a short time later after picking up his fourth foul.

Despite committing five turnovers in the final six minutes, the Gators hung tough. Carr contributed a pair of free throws at the 4:57 mark to make it 51-44, and his layup with 25 seconds left gave the Gators some breathing room at 53-48.

From there, senior guard Kaleb Pryor converted a layup and two free throws to seal the win.

“We started out slow at the beginning, but we ended up executing the way we wanted at the end,” Thompson said. “Getting the win was the big thing, and we did that. We got better as the game went on and made plays.”

Gators coach Alvis Rogers said the win against Woodland Hills was another sign of his team’s progression in the early going.

“We’ve been working on situations in practice that they are going to see late in games like they did (against Woodland Hills),” Rogers said. “The guys handled themselves well, and they took care of the basketball, for the most part. The important thing is making our free throws, especially down the stretch when you are trying to put the game out of reach. We can be better from the line, and we’re working on that.”

Gateway was 8 of 10 from the line in the fourth quarter and 17 of 26 for the game.

The Gators split a pair of games at the season-opening Play 4 Mae Tournament at Woodland Hills.

Gateway beat District 3’s Chambersburg, 56-51, behind 23 from Carr (7 of 14 free throws), and 11 from Pryor.

Carr also was strong in a 56-47 setback to Allderdice. He scored 22 and was 10 of 12 from the line. Stevenson added 11 against the Dragons.

Carr’s early season success continued as he tallied a team-best 23 points in a 62-59 win at Central Catholic on Dec. 9. Senior forward Tra Williams added 14 points, and Thompson finished with 10.

Vikings 6-3 senior guard Dante DePante, Triblive HSSN’s Class 6A Preseason Player of the year, scored 23 points in the loss. Central Catholic played without 6-7 center Debaba Tshiebwe.

One day later, Gateway and Moon played a close, low-scoring game, and the Tigers edged the Gators, 39-37. The Gators led by one heading into the fourth quarter.

“We still have some things to work on, but it is a decent start,” Stevenson said.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway