Fenton, Butler lead Class 6A No. 2 Latrobe past Gateway

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, December 11, 2018 | 10:18 PM

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There was no double-overtime when Latrobe and Gateway met on the basketball court for a rematch on Tuesday night.

For Gateway, though, there still was plenty of double jeopardy.

The Gators could not slow down the Wildcats’ potent one-two scoring duo of Reed Fenton and Bryce Butler as the host Wildcats rolled to an 82-59 nonsection victory.

Fenton and Butler didn’t combine for 76 points like they did last year in a 92-91 win at Gateway — Butler put up 40 and Fenton, 36 in that game — but the talented seniors still tallied a hefty 50 points as the Class 6A No. 2 Wildcats coasted to 3-0.

A youthful Gateway team, which plays in 5A, moved to 1-1. The Gators had another front-row seat to watch Fenton and Butler, only containing the pair for maybe a play or two while they tried to keep up with the pace.

“They are just relentless,” Gateway coach Alvis Rogers said of Latrobe, which is averaging 81.3 points through three games. “(Fenton) is a complete player. We wanted to try and take the ball out of his hands, but they have other guys that can hurt you. That’s a very good team.”

Rogers knows about high-level players: he starred at Wake Forest in the early 1980s and was drafted into the NBA by the then-Kansas City Kings. He went to the same high school (Washington, N.C.) as Dominique Wilkins and played against Michael Jordan in college.

“Our high school team could really move the ball,” Rogers said. “Kind of like (Latrobe) did against us tonight.”

Fenton, a Lehigh commit, poured in 28 points, getting to the rim with purpose, hitting from the perimeter and adding a couple of dunks on the way to topping the 1,000-point mark for his career.

Butler, who is headed to West Liberty, scored 22 points, filling lanes on run-outs and keying fast breaks with rebounds and heads-up defensive stops. A well-blended cast filled in around them.

“We knew we had to come out strong and play fast,” Fenton said. “We knew if we did that we could really make some hay. That’s what we did.”

Fenton’s milestone came just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter on a free throw that extended the Wildcats’ advantage to 30 points.

“It doesn’t all come down to Bryce and I and our scoring,” Butler said. “We have other guys who make plays for us and do a great job rotating on the defensive end. I trust everyone on this team.”

Latrobe did start fast, building a turnover-fueled, 16-4 lead late in the opening quarter, when Alex Bisignani had seven points. The Gators closed the gap to 20-15 early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer from RJ Stevenson. But that is when Fenton took over, leading the Wildcats on a 21-2 run to take command and rocket into the break with a 42-21 lead.

Fenton scored 13 in the quarter, including a dunk and a pair of 3-pointers. He had his own, personal 10-0 run. The only way the Gators could slow him down was when the standout left the floor with a bloodied nose. He made a layup for an and-1 but had to leave the game to see a trainer; Drew Clair made his free throw to make it 36-17.

“Bryce and I do what we need to do to help us win,” Fenton said. “We don’t have to score 76 points for us to win.”

Butler, who had a couple of highlight blocks in the first half, added eight points in the second.

Gateway could only get to within 19 after halftime. Noah Belak’s layup double up the Gators, at 54-27. Fenton added another 3-point play, and a scooping layup to make it 61-32 after three quarters.

Gateway chipped away late against Latrobe reserves.

RJ Stevenson had 16 points, Hunter Hicks added 13 and Nate Roper had six blocks for Gateway.

“We have some young guys,” Rogers said. “We only have two guys who played considerable minutes last year. We turned the ball over too much and they kept coming at us. We’ll get better as our guys continue to learn.”

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Gateway, Latrobe