‘A big win for our community.’ Brookland-Cayce gets signature victory over power Gray
It was obvious that Tuesday’s region matchup with Gray Collegiate meant a little bit more to Brookland-Cayce basketball coach Robert Wells.
It was personal for Wells, his players and the B-C community as the Bearcats defeated the powerhouse War Eagles, 54-45.
“I told our guys we are basically playing for our entire school district tonight,” Wells said. “I felt like we were the better team when I looked at the film. I just knew that our guys needed to come out and play hard.
“It is a region win. We are 3-0 in the region. But outside of that, it is a big win for our community. I told our guys we were playing for our community and tonight was a big win for us.”
In the closing seconds, Wells gestured to the Bearcat crowd behind the bench with his hands raised.
AJ Edwards led B-C with 16 points and Amarii King added 10.
It was only the second meeting between the two schools, located six miles from each other. Gray defeated B-C, 84-41, last year in the Bearcats’ Cayce Roundball Classic.
But it’s no secret that bitterness and strong feelings exist between Gray and B-C when it comes to sports over the past decade.
Before this school year, teams at Brookland-Cayce and Airport — both in the Lexington 2 district — simply didn’t schedule Gray Collegiate, a public charter school which has been a dominant program in multiple sports. Lexington 1 schools took the same approach.
But this year, Gray moved up two classifications from 2A to 4A because of the statewide multiplier put in place by the SC High School League and was put in the same region with B-C, Airport, Gilbert as well as schools from the Aiken area.
So the two schools have to play each other in varsity contests even though they don’t face each other in junior varsity games.
There wasn’t as much hostility as when the two teams played in football and the two teams shook hands Tuesday night, unlike when they met on the gridiron. There were words exchanged in the hallway after the game between assistants from the two schools.
Gray Collegiate is used to getting everyone’s best shot and has been a boys basketball powerhouse, winning six state championships including the last three under coach Dion Bethea. But Bethea left in the spring to take an assistant coaching job at Georgia Southern.
Former South Carolina great Carlos Powell, who won a state championship at Wilson in Florence, replaced Bethea and has had an up-and-down start to the season. The War Eagles are 5-7, including a loss to North Augusta, another favorite in the region, last month.
Wells said before the season that he believed his team could compete for a region title with the likes of Gray and North Augusta.
It didn’t look like that early as the War Eagles jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before the Bearcats responded with a 14-2 run to close the first quarter and lead 14-9.
Gray led 21-20 at halftime and the two teams went back and forth in the second half before the Bearcats took control in the fourth. The War Eagles led 38-36 on a Quan McDuffie dunk but King answered with a 3-pointer to put B-C up 39-38 with 6:07 left.
Isaiah Oree had four straight points and then another King jumper put B-C up 47-40 with 2:45 left.
“I knew down the stretch our guys were going to play hard,” Wells said. “I told our guys you have to embrace the moment and make big-time plays. And those guys made big-time plays.”
The War Eagles never found their rhythm in the final quarter and struggled with turnovers, many coming from fouls on the offensive end.
“There were eight or nine charges called against my team. Never seen anything like it in my life,” Powell said. “We got to keep a clear head and play basketball the way we know how to play. We let the referees take over our game and couldn’t bounce back.”
Levi Ball led Gray with eight points and three other players had six. The War Eagles have two region losses for the first time in school history.
The two teams play again Jan. 31 at B-C.
“This was their super bowl but we will see them again,” Powell said with a grin.
Gray Collegiate 67, Brookland-Cayce 27 (Girls)
Raina Myers had 13 points and Kiley Freeman had 12 in the War Eagles’ win.
Girls Basketball Scores
Lower Richland 63, Hartsville 34
LR: Dingle 2, Cunningham, Chi’Nya Isaac 17, Isaac 2, Shiver 1, Jhnai Sumter 14, Mikayla Foster 12, Taelor Hiller 10
Dutch Fork 67, Keenan 48
Airport 51, Midland Valley 42
Hammond 40, American Leadership 30
Northside Christian 49, Augusta Christian 34
Irmo 77, Newberry 33
I: Abby Livingston- 37, Jayla Anderson 11, Lailah Singletary- 11
Ben Lippen 47, Cardinal Newman 28
BL: Elaina Whalen 18, Ariel Summons 13, McEntire 7, Sarah Gray Combs 5, Moore 2, Bailey 2. CN: Reyes 9, Laubacker 7, Thompson 6, Garcia 2, Moye 2, Carlson 2
Boys Basketball Scores
CA Johnson 70, Lamar 58
CAJ: Aiassic Germany 22, Tony Odom 17, Milton McCray 13, Elijah Harper 13
Midland Valley 57, Airport 51
Lower Richland 51, Hartsville 43
Irmo 79, Newbery 52
Antwoine Pierce 12, Christian Brown 12, Jeremy Anderson 10, Singletary 9. N: Kenton Calldwell 18 Steven Joseph 10
Ben Lippen 62, Cardinal Newman 46
Maddox Stockman 23, Braysen Stockman 17, Essig 9, De Los Santos 3, Swan 3, Richardson 3, Moore Jr. 2, Edgren 2. CN: Luis Echevarria 21, Santonio Young 13, Wade Marsh 11
Hammond 63, American Leadership 40
H: Jaiden Haltiwanger 19, Jackson Ross 12, Daylin Haltiwanger 11, Mike Tyler 10
Keenan 69, Dutch Fork 64
Augusta Christian 104, Northside Christian 73
South Aiken 71, Gilbert 62
This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 11:16 PM.
