Early season schedule testing mettle of Gateway boys

By: Robert Scott
Friday, December 20, 2019 | 7:10 PM

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It might be only three weeks into the season, but the Gateway boys basketball team has faced its fair share of quality opponents.

The Gators kicked off their season competing in the Highlands tip-off tournament, defeating Imani Christian, 64-52, in the semifinals Dec. 6 before falling to Highlands the next night in the championship game, 78-56.

Imani Christian is a newer program that reached the WPIAL Class A semifinals two years ago while Highlands is a perennial contender in boys basketball.

The Rams made the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals last season and rank second in the TribLive HSSN rankings as of Dec. 19.

Gateway responded after its second-place finish at Highlands with victories against two strong programs.

The Gators defeated Latrobe, 78-57, on Dec. 10 followed by a 58-53 Section 1-5A victory over Woodland Hills three days later. Latrobe has won at least a share of a section title four of the last five seasons while Woodland Hills has won at least 18 games the past two seasons along with a section title in 2017-18.

Coach Alvin Rogers believes the challenges his players face and the lessons learned in their losses will contribute to them being successful later in the season.

“I didn’t know (the schedule would be this challenging), but it is beneficial for our team,” Rogers said. “We have been in the games that we lost. It has just been a matter of executing (on both ends of the court), but it will help us down the road.”

R.J. Stevenson led the Gators in scoring against the Wolverines with 22 points followed by Oliver Elgin with 21.

Gateway’s rugged path continued with a 77-61 section defeat at the hands of second-ranked Penn Hills on Dec. 17. Stevenson once again tallied 22 points to lead the Gators in scoring. Will Kromka also added 15.

Stevenson is more than happy to lead his team in scoring, but he is more focused on assisting the team in winning more games.

“Our defense and rebounding (need to improve to win games),” he said. “(In the Latrobe game), we defended very well through all four quarters and rebounded very well.”

Both Rogers and Stevenson agree the team’s defensive play and rebounding will be the deciding factor in whether the Gators win or lose games this season. The team did not allow more than 56 points in its first three victories while giving up at least 77 in its first two losses.

“In the losses, we have broken down defensively, missed defensive assignments and been out-rebounded, giving up too many points in the paint,” Rogers said. “In the wins, the defense has pretty much dictated how the offense was going to play. The thing I have been harping all year is the defense travels when offense may not travel.”

When the team has played well on defense, Rogers says it’s from playing aggressive and communicating with each other on the court. Rogers talks to his players every day about trusting one another, something he feels they need to work on.

“(There have been times) where I don’t think they trust each other,” he said. “(They need to trust) that the guy behind them is going to be there to help them whether they get leads or passing off the dribble. They are not trusting and communicating.”

When the defense does play well, Stevenson along with Quincy Germany have been the ones setting an example, according to Rogers.

Rogers expects a lot from both players when to comes to defending due to Stevenson being a senior leader and Germany being the point guard.

“Quincy has to get everybody in the right spot defensively and offensively and I put a lot of responsibility on him to do that,” Rogers said. “(Against Penn Hills) was one of those games where we missed shots earlier and we let their offense dictate our defense.”

Robert Scott III is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

Tags: Gateway