The fourth quarter greeted Latrobe with less than ideal circumstances.
Three starters had four fouls, another had three and Gateway had a seven-point lead in the Section 1-5A boys basketball opener.
Mass disqualifications seemed inevitable.
“A lot of teams would have packed it in there. They wouldn’t think they had a chance,” Latrobe coach Brad Wetzel said.
So what did unbeaten Latrobe do? The Wildcats hit the accelerator, became more assertive offensively and stormed back from a 10-point deficit to push past the Gators, 75-71, on Friday night in Monroeville.
Teetering on losing a few key players was a distraction the Wildcats were able to overlook long enough to pull out a thrilling victory and stay undefeated — from foul out to gut-it-out.
“We had the presence of mind to keep playing,” Wetzel said. “If we foul out, we foul out.”
Latrobe (5-0, 1-0), which had five players score in double figures, is off to its best start since 2018-19. The team is averaging 74 points.
In the fourth quarter when it looked more like itself, Latrobe erupted for 33 points and made 13 of 16 free throws to complete the comeback.
Gateway (1-3) had a 10-point lead early in the fourth and saw Mykel Bruce-McCrommon score a career-high 33 points, but the Gators had trouble sealing off the lane down the stretch.
“It was an uphill challenge all the way,” Wetzel said. “We had just about every obstacle there is thrown in front of us. What a gritty, gutsy game.”
Max Butler made a layup on a feed from John Wetzel with 13.6 seconds left for the go-ahead points after Gateway’s Assan Wallace made a driving layup to tie it 71-71 with 43 seconds to go.
Butler had just tipped in his own miss to give the Wildcats a 71-69 edge.
“We stayed composed and just focused on offense and defense,” said Butler, who scored eight in the fourth. “Props to the guys who came in (off the bench). This was all grit and a lot of hard work defensively.”
Butler finished with 20 points, Andy Tatsch and Kyle McNeil each had 14, and Ian DeCerb and John Wetzel added 10 apiece.
Tatsch and DeCerb fouled out.
Kyle McNeil was 5 for 5 from the foul line in the fourth. His and-one gave Latrobe a 56-54 edge. His two free throws with 2.8 seconds left made it 75-71.
“Ian played so well, even with the fouls, Sawyer Butina found a soft spot and made a couple big hoops for us, Kyle made some free throws, and Max’s rebounding and demeanor were great tonight,” Brad Wetzel said. “Andy Tatsch played his heart out. We found a way to get it done.”
There were 11 lead changes and seven ties in the first half, which produced a 30-30 tie at the break.
Bruce-McCrommon had 16 in the opening 16 minutes.
He scored 11 in the third as the Gators built a 49-42 advantage.
Late in the third, Bruce-McCrommon converted a three-point play for the game’s largest lead at 47-37.
But John Wetzel, who had success getting to the rim and dishing off in the second half, answered with his own and-one, although he was hit with a technical foul for celebrating the play.
The 6-foot-5 Bruce-McCrommon knocked in a 3 from the wing to stretch the margin back to 10, at 54-44, early in the fourth, and he delivered an emphatic block on John Wetzel. Still, Latrobe chipped away as it picked up the pace.
Tatsch finished a three-point play, and Wetzel made a driving layup to key a 7-0 run, with McNeil’s three-point play cutting it to 56-54 at the 4:42 mark.
Coach Wetzel told his players to stay calm because “five minutes is forever.”
Tatsch made two free throws to tie it 58-58, then DeCerb made a pair of his own to make it 60-58.
The Wildcats didn’t trail again, even though the Gators had more left in the tank.
Bruce-McCrommon’s third 3 got Gateway within 66-64, and Daniel Boziecevic’s 3 tied it 69-69 with 1:08 on the clock.
Wallace had 14 points for the Gators, who made 21 of 24 free throws.
Bruce-McCrommon was 8 for 8 from the line.