Gray Collegiate takes round one against rival Keenan at Chick-fil-A Classic
Gray Collegiate and Keenan are no strangers to each other.
The two region rivals met twice last with the War Eagles winning twice in the regular season but Keenan getting a measure of revenge by eliminating Gray Collegiate from the playoffs in the Upper State championship game.
They still have two regular season games to go but Gray fond out a lot about themselves with a 67-53 win over the Raiders on Wednesday in the nightcap of the Chick-fil-A Classic.
“This game was something to see where we are at from last year. They did beat us in the Upper State final,” Gray Collegiate coach Dion Bethea said. “The guys responded in the second half. We really didn’t play well that first half and we had to get adjusted to how they were playing.”
Juwan Gary scored 25 points and added 12 rebounds with three blocks, two steals and an assist in the dominating effort. Tommy Bruner added 19 points as the War Eagles never trailed.
Gray led 26-22 at halftime but shot 46.4 percent in the second half and led by as many as 20 points in the second half.
Bethea thought it was because of the defense the War Eagles played.
“Everything starts with us defensively. When we’re playing good defense, we’re a really, really good team,” Bethea said. “I’m not worried about us scoring points. It’s more about us holding those guys and getting stops.”
Keenan tied it a 26-all before Gray responded with a 24-4 run to take control. Gary started the spurt with two free throws, he hit a lay-up and Bruner knocked down a 3-pointer to get things going. The lead reached 20 points with 8:22 remaining.
Dillon Jones scored 14 points to lead Keenan (3-3). Raekwon Horton and Latrell Taylor chipped in with 11 apiece for the Raiders.
GC – Juwan Gary 25, Tommy Bruner 19, K. Robinson 7, J. Robinson 6, Rivers 6, Corbitt 2, Jenkins 2. K – Dillon Jones 14, Raekwon Horton 11, Latrell Taylor 11, Sanders 7, Tyler 6, X. Jones 3, Stone 1.
This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Gray Collegiate takes round one against rival Keenan at Chick-fil-A Classic."