Preview: Gateway Eagles vs. Ida Baker Bulldogs
The Gateway Eagles will head out on the road to face off against the Ida Baker Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Ida Baker took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Gateway, who comes in off a win.
Even though First Baptist Academy scored an imposing 62 points on Thursday, Gateway still came out on top. Gateway escaped with a win against First Baptist Academy by the margin of a single free throw, 63-62. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Gateway.
Tavian Cook had an outrageously good game as he scored 30 points along with 6 rebounds and 6 steals. That makes it two consecutive games in which he has scored at least 25% of Gateway's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Christopher Davis, who scored 13 points.
Meanwhile, Ida Baker's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight loss. They took a serious blow against Naples, falling 75-38. While losing is never fun, Ida Baker can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 480th, while Naples is ranked 38th).
Their wins bumped Gateway to 2-0 and First Baptist Academy to 5-1.
Everything came up roses for Gateway against Ida Baker when the teams last played back in December of 2022 as the squad secured a 94-59 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Ida Baker's Kaiden Crossdale, who dropped a double-double on 29 points and 12 rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for Gateway to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
