Basketball Recap: Josh Kotto Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Gateway

Scorpions

Margin (Wins)

01/31/25 vs Mitchell	65
01/10/25 @ Mitchell	49
01/24/25 @ Battle Mountain	42
02/04/25 vs Sierra	29
01/29/25 @ Elizabeth	29

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Sand Creek had no problem doing just that on Tuesday. They put the hurt on the Gateway Olympians with a sharp 84-59 victory. The Scorpions have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 22 points or more this season.

Sand Creek's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Josh Kotto led the charge by putting up eight points in addition to six assists and six rebounds. What's more, Kotto posted two blocks, the most he's had since back in December of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Elijah Brotherns, who went 6-for-13 on his way to 14 points and eight boards.

Kotto wasn't the only one working in the assist department: Sand Creek was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. They racked up seven more assists than Gateway's also-impressive total of 14.

Gateway lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Ahmed Mohammed, who shot 64% from the field to rack up 22 points. Another player making a difference was Bryan Lozano, who went 6-for-12 en route to 14 points and five assists.

The win made it two in a row for Sand Creek and bumps their season record up to 18-6. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.5 points over those games. As for Gateway, with the loss, they broke their four-game winning streak and moved their record to 9-15.

Sand Creek has already played their next contest, a 47-40 victory against Severance on the 28th. Gateway does not have any more games scheduled as of now.