Gateway sports notebook: Gators hockey set for postseason tournament

By: Michael Love
Sunday, March 8, 2026 | 11:01 AM

Gateway hockey coach Dennis Shannon said he’s excited for his team’s prospects in their upcoming junior varsity playoff tournament.

That comes after the youthful Gators, who returned to the JV level this season after playing in varsity last year, finished the regular season with seven wins, four losses and five ties for 19 points — tied for fourth in JV Tier 3 Division 2 — in 16 games.

“Every JV team we’ve played has six or seven kids who also skate for their varsity team,” Shannon said.

“It helped them develop, and it certainly pushed us. The guys worked hard to get better individually and as a team.”

After losing 10 seniors from last year’s team, the decision was made to move back down to JV this year with the hopes of the younger players gaining more experience for a return to varsity next season. Shannon said seniors Caleb Sonafelt and Reed Davis hoped the team could’ve stayed at the varsity level for their final year with the Gators, but they bought into the decision for the good of the program.

Both were celebrated as part of Gateway’s regular-season finale against No. 1 Morgantown at Palmer Imaging Arena. Davis, who missed the game for family reasons, scored 10 goals and added eight assists in the regular season. Junior Canyon Hines, one of the top scorers in JV Tier 3 this year, led the way with 19 goals and 14 assists.

“The guys played well against a very good Morgantown team,” Shannon said. “We were with them for two whole periods before it kind of fell apart at the end.”

Morgantown scored twice in the third period to pull away to the final score. Sophomore Brayden Devola and junior Patrick Kenna scored for the Gators, while sophomore Tristan Cole made 25 saves.

Gateway went 7-2-3 down the stretch to solidify its playoff aspirations and was 4-0-2 in its last six before a 5-2 loss to Morgantown. Shannon said the Gators will play up in the JV Tier 1 or Tier 2 tournament.

“It’s just a matter of where the PIHL feels we fit in better,” Shannon said.

Gateway boys hoops returns to states

As the No. 6 seed from the WPIAL, the Gators boys basketball team was to face District 3 runner-up Milton Hershey (23-3) last Friday in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs.

Gateway, 17-9 heading into states, is no stranger to long trips in the PIAA playoffs, and this trip out east was to take three hours. But at this time of the season, teams still alive will go anywhere for the chance to compete and go after state gold.

The Gators, the fifth seed for the WPIAL tournament, beat Indiana, 56-50, in overtime in the first round before falling to No. 4 Moon, 57-43.

With the top eight teams in boys 5A advancing to states, the Indiana win clinched a PIAA berth. Gateway beat Shaler, 68-53, on Feb. 23, in the consolation semifinals before a home loss to rival Penn Hills, 57-53, in the Feb. 25 battle for fifth place.

Senior Mykel Bruce-McCrommon poured in a team-best 26 points in the win over Shaler, while senior Jax Vovaris was right there with 24 to fuel the Gators.

Bruce-McCrommon had another monster game in the loss to Penn Hills. He finished with 27 points.

Gateway lost in the PIAA first round in 2023 and 2024, but it won three games in the 2022 state tournament, including an upset of WPIAL champion Laurel Highlands in the quarterfinals before falling to New Castle in the Class 5A final four.

Gateway girls debut at WPIALs

Junior Savannah Boden made Gateway girls wrestling history with her pin of Avonworth’s Mackenzie Heagerty in 1:10 of their 112-pound preliminary bout at WPIALs on Feb. 21 at Mt. Lebanon High School.

It was the first match for a Gators girls wrestler at WPIALs, and it set the tone for what was a promising initial venture for the first-year program.

Boden, one of six from Gateway to compete in the double-elimination tournament, also won by tech fall over Kiski Area’s Ruby Jones in the third round of consolations and finished the day 2-2 overall and the season at 7-3.

Also scoring wins for the Gators at WPIALs were sophomore Ilbannys Ferrer at 100 and freshman Marlee Davis at 118. Freshmen Rikkia Chase (124) and Sienna Boden (130) and sophomore Raquel Anerson (142) also represented Gateway at the WPIAL championships.

Boys wrestling concludes season

Braden Washington had higher hopes for his WPIAL championship tournament.

The junior 139-pounder suffered a tech fall loss in the first round. He came back and took Kiski Area’s Jackson Pollick to the limit in the consolation bracket before Pollick held on for a 2-1 win.

Washington, however, is not done with his high school career. He finished 29-7 this season with five pins, eight tech falls, five major decisions and seven regular decisions. He takes a 67-35 record into his senior year.

Seniors Donovan DeLuco (215) and Theodore Mitchell (172) and sophomore Andrew Gabriel (285) all wrestled at WPIALs after earning place finishes at the section tournament. Despite not picking up wins at WPIALs, all three saw improvement throughout the season.

DeLuco, who wrestled at WPIALs for the second year in a row, was 28-8 this season and finished his varsity career with 60 wins. Gabriel went 26-10 in his varsity debut, and Mitchell, a two-time WPIAL qualifier, was 21-7 this season and 54-41 in three varsity seasons with the Gators.

Four Gators bowl at regional

Senior Chase Owens had a storied bowling career at Gateway, and he finished that career 20th overall at the Western Regional singles tournament Feb. 28 at AMF Bowlero in Carnegie.

Owens bowled a 901 six-game series with a 201 high game. He fell short of his goal of returning to states as only the top 12 after the qualifying rounds advance.

He punched his ticket to regionals with his play throughout the regular season where he averaged 213.4 and finished top two in his section.

Freshman Auston Wallace placed 25th at regionals (902 series, 225 high game), and sophomore Zach Kennedy was 29th (892 series, 232 high game). Both punched tickets to regionals based off their season averages — Wallace at 198.9, and Kennedy at 205.3.

On the girls’ side, junior Hazija Hussein earned a spot at regionals with her 136.3 season average. She rolled a 609 series at regionals with a 150 high score in the sixth and final game of the series.

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.

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