Eagles Soar! Gray Collegiate girls hold off Bishop England for first state title
With Bishop England looking to make another playoff comeback, the Gray Collegiate girls weren’t going to be denied.
Maliyiah Mason and Kadence Walker-Lee had big baskets down the stretch to help the War Eagles beat the Battling Bishops, 40-32, in the Class 2A championship game on Friday at USC Aiken Convocation Center.
It is Gray’s first state championship in girls basketball and came in its first state championship appearance. The War Eagles defeated three-time defending champion Keenan to make it to the title game.
The championship comes in head coach Brandon Wallace’s first season. Playing the game close to where he played his high school basketball at Silver Bluff, Wallace had several friends and family at the game. He looked for them in the stands as the seconds started ticking down late in the game.
“This means a lot. Coming back, I didn’t know we would be here in this position,” said Mason, who missed most of last season with an ACL injury. “But us picking up new pieces helped. With Coach Wallace coming in and being a good role model for us, figuring out our strengths and weaknesses and figuring out what’s best for us, it feels good to get here and say we are champions.”
Then after the buzzer sounded, the Gray players mobbed the first-year head coach.
“I had my wife, my boys, my dad, my older brother Maurice from Georgia,” Wallace said. “I was just trying to make contact with them. I thank them for all the support they have given me during my playing career, playing overseas and now being a coach — it means a lot.”
The former South Carolina standout took over the program in the summer and now has won championships as a player when he was at Silver Bluff, an assistant coach with the Gray boys and one now as a head coach.
“As a player, you kind of have control. As an assistant coach, you facilitate and help with the winning,” Wallace said. “But as a head coach, you got to put people in position to give yourself an opportunity to win. So, I am proud of this one. It really means a lot to me.”
Bishop England didn’t make it easy for Wallace and the War Eagles. The Battling Bishops rallied from a 12-point deficit to win the Lower State championship game against Andrew Jackson.
Bishop England was down by as many 14 points in the first half against Gray before coming back.
Izzy Woods and the Bishops’ pressure defense helped key the comeback. Woods had all of her 11 points in the second half and hit a 3-pointer to get BE within 32-30 with 1:35 left.
But Walker-Lee answered with a three-point play to make it 35-30. Mason hit 1-of-2 free throws and then Alyssa Woodlock got a rebound before being fouled. Woodlock hit both free throws to make it 38-32 with less than 30 seconds left.
Mason finished with 11 points along with guard Jordan Mintz, who hit three 3-pointers in the first half for the War Eagles.
“Not to sound cocky or anything, but when I said in the past interviews that nobody could stop us down (low) I meant it,” Mason said. “When we get our head and lock in that we got to finish something out, we are going to come through for our team every chance we get.”
GC: Tatum 6, Jordan Mintz 11, Walker-Lee 9, Woodlock 3, Maliyah Mason 11. BE: Tompkins 2, Izzy Woods 11, Madison Riley 10, Van de Erve 3, Mevold 2, Irvine 4.
This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 8:44 PM.
