Gateway protects their home court as they take down Indiana by a score of 56-50 in an overtime 5A playoff clash.
This game featured the #5 seed, Gateway, against the #12 seed, Indiana, in a matchup that showcased two of the biggest prospects in the WPIAL in Gateway’s Mykel Bruce-McCrommon and Indiana’s Aaron Webb. Both stars finished with 23 points, but it was the Gateway Gators advancing to the second round.
It was a slow scoring start to the game with the only points the first half of the first quarter coming from a drive by Bruce-McCrommon and a three from Webb.
Will Olsen from Indiana was the next to score after getting the steal and the layup to put Indiana up 5-2. Bruce-McCrommon countered with a steal of his own and finished it off with a dunk.
After a timeout, Indiana’s Darius Webb scored down low off the baseline out of bounds play, but Gateway answered with a triple from senior Jax Vovaris to tie the game at 7. Gateway began to play a full-court press, which resulted in a steal and score for Mykel, giving him 6 points in the quarter.
Aaron Webb forced the defense to collapse on him before kicking it out to freshman, Jace Brocious, who hit a three to put Indiana up 10-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Webb started the second quarter with a long range two and Olsen followed that up with a pull-up jumper to put Indiana ahead 14-9 early in the second, but Vovaris would hit another three and Isiah Allah got the and-1 to fall to tie it at 14.
Bruce-McCrommon drained the fadeaway jumper from the baseline to put Gateway back in front by a score of 17-14. Indiana answered this time with a triple of their own to tie things again. The two teams continued to trade buckets as Vovaris scored off of the Indiana turnover and Olsen finished in the lane through traffic.
Aaron Webb managed to get to the free throw line and knock down both to put Indiana ahead 21-19 with two minutes to go in the first half. Mykel answered back with an elbow jumper, plus the foul, hitting the and-1 and giving Gateway the lead.
Mykel got back to the line late in the half with Indiana over the foul limit. He knocked down both to give him 13 points and propel Gateway to a 24-21 lead at the break. Bruce-McCrommon and Vovaris combined for 21 of Gateway’s 24 points in the first half. Aaron Webb led the way for Indiana with 7.
Indiana tied things early in the third quarter with another triple from Jace Brocious, but Mykel answered right back with a three from the top of the key for Gateway. The three pointers continued to fall for both teams with Aaron Webb cashing in for Indiana and Vovaris hitting his third of the game for Gateway.
Gateway upped the defensive pressure and began to force turnovers from Indiana, resulting in another steal and layup for the Gators to give them a 34-27 lead midway through the third. Bruce-McCrommon converted on a strong drive to give him 18 in the game and stretch the Gateway lead to 9.
Indiana answered with a run of their own as Webb made two more free throws and Olsen scored after spinning through the lane for two. Webb capped off the run with a triple to cut the deficit to just two late in the quarter.
Gateway scored to stop the Indiana run, but Olsen answered again with two more. With just five seconds remaining in the quarter, the Gators scored and took a 40-36 lead into the final frame.
Aaron Webb started the quarter with another three for Indiana to give him 18 points and cut the Gateway lead to one. Darius Webb collected the miss on the offensive glass and got the putback to go to tie things at 42 with six minutes left to play.
Aaron Webb continued to be aggressive, getting fouled on the corner three-point attempt and made two of three from the stripe to give him 20 points in the game and put Indiana ahead 44-42. Gateway responded quickly though with a free throw from Vovaris and a triple from Jonathan Ward to go ahead 46-44.
Webb got fouled on the drive the next time down and made one of two to cut the deficit to one late in the game. After getting the stop, Indiana’s Will Olsen lobbed it up to Aaron Webb for the go-ahead alley-oop slam with 30 seconds left in the game.
Gateway came up empty on their next possession and was forced to foul to extend the game. They sent Olsen to the line with Indiana leading 47-46. Olsen hit one to put Indiana up 48-46 with 9.5 seconds left in the game.
WIth the season on the line, the Gators turned to their star player and he delivered. Mykel Bruce-McCrommon took the inbound pass and drove coast to coast for the left-handed layup as time expired to tie the game at 48 at the end of regulation.
Mykel spoke about that final play of regulation after the game saying, “I was going all the way no matter what. Just get it and go”. He went on to describe his mindset in the moment saying, “I’m going straight to the hoop. That’s what was on my mind”.
After a free throw by Bruce-McCrommon early in overtime, Darius Webb was able to score on the drive to put Indiana ahead 50-49 with 3:20 to go. That would be the last bucket of the game for Indiana, as it was all Gateway the rest of the overtime period.
In a scary moment for Gateway, Mykel Bruce-McCrommon went down with some leg cramps and was forced to come out of the game for a bit. Gateway weathered the storm without Mykel, but he quickly returned to the floor after a brief rest.
With their star back on the floor, Gateway ratcheted up the defensive pressure and forced Indiana into multiple turnovers, resulting in another bucket for Mykel. Vovaris collected his own miss on the offensive glass and pushed the Gateway lead to 53-50.
Indiana was able to get to the line with 50 seconds left in overtime and trailing by four, but they came up empty on both free throws. After another steal for Gateway, Vovaris iced the game with the layup and Gateway hung on to win by a score of 56-50.
Gateway Head Coach, Vern Benson, spoke about his team’s fortitude when Mykel went out with a cramp saying, “We had some guys come in. Next man up”. He went on to speak about the importance of having his star player out there after the game saying, “You can’t replace him for long. You’ve got to have him in the game”.
Gateway advances to the second round of the WPIAL 5A Playoffs and is set to face the #4 seed, Moon, on Friday.