Basketball Game Preview: Gateway Panthers vs. Father Lopez Green Wave

vs

Previous Games

12/20/23 - Away	59-49 W
12/21/22 - Away	59-40 W
12/29/21 - Away	65-58 W
12/30/20 - Neutral	53-46 W
12/01/16 - Away	60-54 W
+ 2 more games

Gateway has gone 6-1 against Father Lopez recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Gateway Panthers will take on the Father Lopez Green Wave in a holiday battle at at 6:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Gateway is headed into the match having just suffered their biggest defeat since January 25th on Tuesday. They were dealt a 74-43 loss at the hands of St. Cloud. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 144th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 16th).

Meanwhile, Father Lopez came up short against Bishop Snyder on Saturday and fell 71-62.

Father Lopez dropped their record down to 4-5 with the defeat, which was their third straight at home. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.3 points per game. As for Gateway, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-4 record this season.

Gateway was able to grind out a solid win over Father Lopez in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, winning 59-49. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Father Lopez's Jonathan Powell, who posted 22 points and eight rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Gateway still be able to contain Powell? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.