Basketball Game Preview: Uniontown Red Raiders vs. Gateway Gators

The Uniontown Red Raiders will head out to challenge the Gateway Gators at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Gateway took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Uniontown, who comes in off a win.

Uniontown took a loss when they played away from home last Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They breezed by McKeesport to the tune of 75-36. With the Red Raiders ahead 41-14 at the half, the game was all but over already.

Tori Grooms and Calvin Winfrey were among the main playmakers for Uniontown as the former almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine steals and the latter went 9 of 12 on his way to 23 points. Grooms is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last five games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Isaac Ellsworth, who posted 12 points and six assists.

Meanwhile, Gateway opened the new year with a less-than-successful 52-43 loss to Cumberland Valley. While losing is never fun, the Gators can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 213th, while the Eagles are ranked eighth).

Uniontown's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-3. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.3 points per game. As for Gateway, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-5.