Gray Collegiate War Eagles soar to third straight boys basketball title
With a roster full of new faces, the Gray Collegiate basketball team continued its title run Friday at Colonial Life Arena.
The War Eagles defeated Whale Branch 53-39 for their third straight state title.
This title was a little different than the other two with no player on the roster scoring a point in last year’s championship game.
“These guys are very different than the first two teams,” Gray Collegiate coach Dion Bethea said. “They bought into the system and a lot of different guys stepped up. I am just blessed to have a great group of kids.”
Three of the team’s five starters weren’t on the team last year — Tauris Watson, Latavian Lawrence and RJ Howell. The other two starters, Tory Kelly and Chase McDuffie, played but weren’t a factor in last year’s championship game against Andrew Jackson.
But McDuffie really stepped up, especially with Watson in early foul trouble. The junior scored a career-high 22 points, grabbed six rebounds and had four assists.
McDuffie scored six straight points during a 90-second stretch in the third quarter to give the War Eagles a 35-28 lead with 2:38 left .
“We are a brotherhood. I depend on them and they depend on me,” McDuffie said.
“Chase was on fire. Chase played very well in the playoffs,” Bethea said. “We told him he had to trust his shot a whole lot more. It started to fall for him today. We just wanted to make sure everything started with him and Tauris to get everyone else rolling.
Watson, who was held to just five points in the first half, finished with 11 including an emphatic dunk for the final basket with a minute left. The Region 4-2A Player of the Year played the last two seasons at White Knoll.
Gray Collegiate (25-6) finished the season on a 15-game winning streak after losing to Columbia early in Region 4-2A play. Fourteen of the 15 wins were by double digits.
The War Eagles held Whale Branch with 35 percent shooting and its lowest point total of the season.
“They said at the beginning of the year that we were just athletes but we showed we were more than that,” Watson said.
Whale Branch, which was making its third title appearance and first in Class 2A, jumped out to a 7-1 lead early and Gray Collegiate finished the first quarter on 16-4 run to lead 17-11.
Shawn Chisholm led Whale Branch (21-7) with 13 points and Wofford signee Nick Pringle added 11 before fouling out with 5:48 left in the game. The Warriors managed just eight points after Pringle left the game.
GC: Howell 2, Tauris Watson 11, Chase McDuffie 22, Lawrence 9, Kelly 2, Rogers 3, Gardner 4. WB: Shawn Chisholm 13, Nick Pringle 11, Hogue 2, Parrales 2, McVay 3, Reeves 4, Barnard 2, Williams 2.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 6:59 PM.
