Latrobe shocks No. 1 Gateway for program’s ‘biggest (win) in years’

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 | 10:15 PM

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Gateway calls its home gymnasium “The Swamp.”

Latrobe walked onto the floor Tuesday night and sank the Gators and their No. 1 ranking.

The Wildcats used an impressive start and some clutch defense down the stretch to stun the top-rated Gators, 63-60, in the upset of the year in Class 5A.

John Wetzel, Kyle McNeil and Ja’Tawn Williams created turnovers inside the final 30 seconds as Latrobe shook up the Section 3-5A standings.

Gateway also was ranked No. 4 in the state.

Wetzel and McNeil, making his first varsity start, created a steal as Gateway inbounded under its own hoop. The turnover led to a McNeil layup with 33 seconds left to make it 61-60.

Williams’ steal, as he was in a sitting position at midcourt, then led to a layup by Wetzel to seal the shocking victory.

“This is a program kind of win,” Latrobe coach Brad Wetzel said. “Biggest one for us in years. You see what can happen when five guys play together.

“We can be pretty formidable when we’re all on the same page and all five guys do their jobs.”

McNeil, who had a career-high 13 points, said the Wildcats (7-7, 3-2) were not intimidated.

“It’s always fun to play with this team,” McNeil said. “Everybody picks each other up. We didn’t play well last game and came out ready to play tonight.”

Latrobe lost by 27 points on its home floor to Penn-Trafford on Friday.

Gateway (11-2, 4-1) took a 60-57 lead on an alley-oop by Taili Thompson with just over a minute to go.

But McNeil made two free throws to cut it to one with 51.4.

A Gateway timeout set up an inbounds play under the hoop. But the Wildcats sniffed it out and stole the momentum in a flurry.

The Gators kept giving the Wildcats chances, and the visitors pounced on every one of them.

“We have tough kids, and they were ready to play a tough team,” Brad Wetzel said. “They worked hard for 32 minutes.”

Gateway was looking to run its winning streak to 11, but the Wildcats sent a message to the Gators with an electric start.

Latrobe scored the first 12 points and held Gateway without a field goal until the 3:50 mark of the opening quarter.

While the Gators did recover, they were taken aback.

“We didn’t do the things you need to do with the lead,” Gateway coach Alvis Rogers said. “Latrobe is a good team, and they made us work. We weren’t us tonight, and that’s on me.”

Gateway closed the gap to 20-17 about midway through the second quarter, but the Wildcats pushed it back to double digits, at 29-19, on a 3-pointer from McNeil.

After free throws gave the Wildcats a 30-22 advantage, the Gators used back-to-back layups from key reserve Thompson, the second off a steal, to make it 31-29 just before the half.

Mykel Bruce-McCrommon led the Gators in the third, scoring 12 of his 14 points.

Gateway finally took the lead on an alley-oop layup by Bryson Pavlik, and Bruce-McCrommon made a floater in the lane as part of a 9-0 run and a 40-36 edge.

The Gators’ lead reached 50-43 on a leaning 3 from Bruce-McCrommon, but senior Darius Davis made a 3 for Latrobe to make it 50-48 heading to the fourth.

The Gators tried to rely on their defense and patient halfcourt offense. But Latrobe sped them up and made them rush possessions.

“They took us out of our sets,” Rogers said. “They pressured us. They came in and fought us tooth and nail.”

Gateway had not allowed more than 58 points in a game all season, boasting a 46.5 points-against average.

Max Butler led Latrobe with 17 points, and Wetzel finished with 14.

Gateway had four in double figures, including Pavlik (12), Alex Lowry (10) and Thompson (10).

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway, Latrobe