Third time a charm for Keenan in win

Tariq Simmons is glad he returned to Keenan for his final season.

The all-state guard scored a season-high 31 points and turned in one of the best performances of his career in helping the Raiders to a 73-58 win over Gray Collegiate on Friday in the Class 2A Upper State championship game at Bon Secour Wellness Arena.

The Raiders advance to their fourth state title game since 2010 and face Burke on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Colonial Life Arena.

“This is the reason I came back. I am so glad,” Simmons said. “This is a big relief to get this win, but we aren’t satisfied. We are going to enjoy it tonight then it is back to business.”

Keenan (22-5) lost to Abbeville in the state semifinals last year. Then in August, Simmons announced he would be attending Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, N.C. But after a few weeks in which he said it was “the worst thing ever,” he returned to Keenan where he has been on varsity since being freshman.

Simmons saved one of his best efforts in the third matchup with Gray Collegiate, which defeated the Raiders both times this season. The Citadel commit scored 25 of his 31 points in the second half, grabbed nine rebounds and dished our four assists.

Simmons’ 31 points were the most he scored in a game since scoring 37 against Hammond last year. He had 15 in the fourth quarter, and the Raiders were able to put the game away in the first few minutes of the quarter. After Gray cut the lead to 45-39 in the third, Keenan answered with a 24-10 run to take a 69-49 lead.

“I tell you what, Tariq is a blessing and so is Rodriguez Marshall,” Keenan coach Zach Norris said. “I think they played an extra good floor game and kept everyone under control. ... Everyone we called on today did a wonderful job.”

Norris said he was confident coming into the matchup with the War Eagles despite the two earlier losses. He said they were able to confuse Gray defensively as the Raiders tweaked a little bit of their offense and went to more pick-and-roll with Simmons and guard Rod Marshall, who scored 17 points. That prevented the War Eagles from double teaming them and got them easy looks at the baskets. Keenan shot 59 percent from the field.

Defensively, Norris said the plan was to contain the supporting cast around Class 2A Player of the Year Jalek Felton. The North Carolina signee scored 26 points but Juwan Gary was the only other player in double figures with 15. Gary scored 30 or more points in the War Eagles’ last two playoff games.

Gray Collegiate (17-8) came into the game with a 14-game winning streak and scored 85 or more points in its last seven games. But Keenan held the War Eagles to their lowest point total since the 88-51 loss to St. Benedict’s on Dec. 29.

“We couldn’t make shots and they did. There was no other way around it,” Gray Collegiate coach Dion Bethea said. “Everyone is hurting. The opportunity was there for us to advance but things happen. We got to get ready for next year.”

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 8:54 PM.