Gray Collegiate girls snap Keenan’s dominant run in 2A, advance to state championship
The Gray Collegiate boys program has won its share of basketball championships. Now, it’s the Gray girls’ turn to play for a state title.
The War Eagles took control of the game in the fourth quarter to defeat Keenan, 46-38, in Friday’s Class 2A Upper State championship game at Bob Jones University.
Gray will play Bishop England in the 2A state championship at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 3 at USC Aiken. It’s the War Eagles’ first championship appearance. The Gray boys, who have won five state championships, advanced to the 2A boys championship game.
“It means a lot. When I stepped into this job I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Gray Collegiate coach Brandon Wallace said. “I’m super proud of these girls and they stuck in it all year. They believed in me and it ended up working out for us.”
Wallace, a former University of South Carolina standout, is in his first season as War Eagles head coach. He was an assistant for the Gray boys teams from the 2019-20 season and a part of several championships.
It will be a homecoming for Wallace, who played his high school basketball at Silver Bluff High which about 20 miles from USC Aiken Convocation Center.
The loss ends Keenan’s state championship run. The Raiders had won three straight championships and were trying for their sixth straight title game appearance.
Keenan played without South Carolina signee and McDonald’s All-American MiLaysia Fulwiley, who suffered an ankle injury in Tuesday’s third-round game at Silver Bluff. Fulwiley wore jeans and sunglasses on the bench Friday and spent the game cheering on her team.
But the Raiders couldn’t get over the hump without Fulwiley, a 3,000-point scorer who hadn’t missed a game in her six years of high school basketball.
“I’m proud of them. They gave effort tonight. It was hard especially what we were missing,” Keenan coach Reggie McLain said. “That rebounding was big. They killed us on the boards in a matter of four or five minutes, and we couldn’t make shots.
“We had an outstanding run. Some of the seniors played for three or four state championships. And the younger players, it is back to work so we can get back here.”
Keenan battled for most of the game and used a 7-0 run to tie it at 29-29 in the third quarter. But the Raiders managed just five points in the fourth quarter and Gray Collegiate used its size to wear down Keenan on the boards.
Senior Maliyiah Mason led Gray Collegiate with 13 points. She missed most of last season with an ACL injury but came back with a strong final season. The all-state selection had a big three-point play to put the War Eagles up 37-33 with 6:31 left.
Keenan never got within four the rest of the way.
Tanaja Kennedy led Keenan with 12 points and Tierra Griffin had 10.
GCA: Mintz 9, Maliyiah Mason 13, Woodlock 6, Frye 3, Walker-Lee 7,Tatum 8 K: Hicks 6, Tanaja Kennedy 12, Tierra Griffin 10, Johnson 6, Sutton 3, Price 1
This story was originally published February 24, 2023 at 2:40 PM.
