Brandon Gatewood gets redemption as J'town tops DeSales for 6th Region championship repeat

Redemption was sweet for Brandon Gatewood.

Jeffersontown High School boys basketball coach Richard Duncan said Gatewood had “a rough summer” after missing a key late free throw in a first-round Sweet 16 loss to Lincoln County last year.

“I feel like I let my team down,” Gatewood said. “I made a promise to myself that I was going to do everything in my power to bring us back to State.”

The senior guard made good on his promise Monday, making a reverse layup with 8.1 seconds left that gave the Chargers a 55-54 victory over DeSales in the Sixth Region Tournament final at Bellarmine University’s Knights Hall.

“All he wanted to was get back, and that’s all we talked about,” Duncan said. “I’m real happy for him that he was able to hit that shot.”

J’town (17-12) will return to Rupp Arena next week for the Sweet 16, facing the Eighth Region champion in a first-round game at 11 a.m. on March 15.

They can thank an amazing fourth-quarter comeback.

DeSales (21-12) – seeking its first regional title since 1979 – led 54-48 after Tyler Klein’s basket with 1:25 remaining and got the ball back 10 seconds later after a J’town miss.

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But three straight turnovers opened the door for the Chargers. Brenton Moore hit a 3-pointer and then followed with a layup pulling the Chargers to 54-53 with 44 seconds left.

Moore scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half.

“My mentality was just to get us back in the game,” Moore said. “We started good, then slowed down, and I had to pick us back up.”

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After the third straight DeSales turnover, Gatewood drove the baseline from the left side and made the acrobatic game-winner.

“I believe in myself and knew I could make it,” Gatewood said. “I’ve worked on that shot a lot, the reverse layup, and it went in.”

The Colts had a final shot to win, but Crew Gibson’s 12-foot jumper at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim.

Gibson, a Liberty University commit, led the Colts with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

“The whole last minute is going to haunt us for a while – turnovers, could have called a timeout,” DeSales coach Damien Anderson said. “I’m beating myself up over that. Credit them. They made the winning plays at the end. … We knew they’d be tough to beat because they’ve done this and know what it’s like. They did it again.”

But few outside of Old Six Mile Lane saw this one coming.

The Chargers started the season 2-5 and were 14-14 at the end of the regular season. But they got hot at the right time and continued the 24^th District’s reign over the Sixth Region. J’town, Fern Creek and Bullitt East have combined to win six of the past seven regional titles.

“We had a rough season this year, lost a lot of close games,” Duncan said. “But we kept grinding, kept our faith in each other. We kept going back to the gym and working hard, and tonight it paid off.”

DESALES                      11       10       23      10 - 54

JEFFERSONTOWN       18        4        15      18 - 55

DeSales (21-12) – Julian Bunton 2, DaVon Martin 1, Brady Cummins 6, Tyler Klein 8, Logan Tharp 2, Will Gibson 12, Crew Gibson 23.

Jeffersontown (17-12) – Brandon Gatewood 9, Jaydon Hackley 6, Lukus McDaniels 6, Brenton Moore 19, Rhys Taylor 4, Cam McDaniels 11.

All-tournament team – Brandon Gatewood, Brenton Moore, Cam McDaniels (Jeffersontown); Tyler Klein, Crew Gibson (DeSales); Terry Walker (Butler); Cyr Malonga (Evangel Christian); Greg Cole (Pleasure Ridge Park); Jacob Tucker (Fairdale); Taj Boston (Fern Creek); Hunter Wheatley (Moore).

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA boys basketball scores: J'town tops DeSales for 6th Region title