Gateway’s young lineup developing in early going

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 29, 2018 | 9:18 AM

Previous Next

Previous Next

The Gateway boys basketball team has made the WPIAL playoffs nine consecutive seasons.

If the Gators are going to expand the streak to 10, they will have to overcome an inexperienced roster filled with underclassmen.

Gateway, under new coach Alvis Rogers, was 2-4 overall and 0-2 in Section 1-5A play entering last week’s North Allegheny holiday tournament.

In a home game against Highlands three days before Christmas, the Gators dropped a 65-49 decision for a fifth straight loss against the Golden Rams.

In that game, Gateway didn’t start any seniors. Senior Nate Roper, however, was first off the bench and collected six rebounds while fellow senior Lamonte Farrish also garnered some court time.

“That’s the hand that we’ve been dealt,” Rogers said of his lineup. “We can’t do anything about that. They’re learning, so to speak, as they go. Learning how to win and just learning the game itself. We only had two or three guys who played a lot of minutes last year.”

One senior who could have been a vital part of the team this season, Courtney Jackson, didn’t come out for the squad. He has signed with Syracuse for football and will graduate early from Gateway and enroll at Syracuse in January.

“They’re getting better,” Rogers said. “But they’re taking baby steps. We have goals and different keys for things; we have smart kids, and they’re all trying to be successful.”

One of those players is Hunter Hicks, a 6-foot-4 sophomore who scored seven points and collected 10 rebounds against Highlands.

“I think we’re a young team and we’re fighting hard,” Hicks said. “We’ve just got to build chemistry. We’re fighting back, we didn’t get some calls that we wanted (against Highlands), but we can play better.”

The youngest starter is Will Kromka, the last of eight brothers who have worn the black and gold for the Gators.

Junior guard R.J. Stevenson, who scored 16 against Highlands, sophomore guard Bonzi Parks and junior swingman Joe Katona round out the starting lineup.

“We need to cut down on our turnovers,” Hicks said. “We did that against Highlands, we had nine and we had 18 or 19 the two games before. We’ve got to work on our free throws now. We only had 9 of 19 against Highlands.”

“They play hard, and that’s what I ask them to do,” Rogers said. “R.J. is kind of a quiet leader. The guys want to follow him, and I’m in his ear telling him he’s got to step his game up.”

Gateway has some local flavor in the section this season with Woodland Hills, Penn Hills and McKeesport. Rounding out the section is Greensburg Salem, Albert Gallatin and Laurel Highlands.

While Hicks likes local rivals on the schedule, he doesn’t mind the occasional road trip.

“I like it personally, because I’m big and I don’t like sitting in a bus for an hour or hour-and-a-half,” Hicks said. “But it doesn’t bother me to have a couple travel games.”

It wouldn’t bother Hicks and his teammates either if there was some travel in late February — to WPIAL playoff games.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Gateway