Gray Collegiate, Keenan ready for anticipated high school basketball playoff matchup
There will be no forfeits this time around between the Keenan and Gray Collegiate basketball teams.
The two boys’ basketball teams will meet Saturday in Florence with a trip to play in the Class 2A championship on the line.
Keenan and Gray each won their third-round matchups Monday, with the Raiders beating Strom Thurmond, 55-31. Defending state champion Gray survived Fox Creek’s slow-down style to win, 31-23.
“We gonna be there. Let me put it that way. We got to show up anyway, or it is a fine,” Keenan coach Zach Norris said.
There is a chance Gray and Keenan might meet in the girls’ 2A Upper State final, too, if both teams win their their games Tuesday night.
The two Region 4-2A teams were scheduled to play twice in the regular season, but Keenan and the other teams opted to not play Gray Collegiate in any sport for the 2023-24 school year. That automatically gave Gray the No. 1 seeds out of the region in the playoffs.
The forfeits were the schools’ way of taking a stand on fair play and competitive balance concerns regarding charter and private schools that are SC High School League members.
In August, the SCHSL executive committee ruled that Region 4-2A didn’t have to pay fines for the forfeits, but allowed Gray to schedule games in their places.
If a team forfeited against Gray in the playoffs, they would be fined $1,000 according to SCHSL rules.
Norris said he wasn’t totally on board with the forfeits, but you “got to do what you got to do.”
“We wasn’t scared to play them. It is what it is,” Norris said. “They put their uniforms on and we put ours on and you see who comes out on top.”
This is the second straight year the two teams will play in the state semifinals. Gray won, 82-76, on its way to a fifth state championship in six seasons.
This will be the last time the two will meet in the playoffs at least for the next two years, with Gray Collegiate moving up to Class 4A next year and Keenan going to Class 3A in the 2024-26 high school league realignment.
“This is our last year in 2A and we want to make sure we leave the right way,” Gray coach Dion Bethea told reporters after the win over Fox Creek. “... I don’t need no more motivation (with Keenan matchup). I was already motivated. We gonna focus on us and focus on the next opponent so we will be ready.
“Like I said before, it is personal and we will be ready for the next game.”
Bethea has used the hashtag “ItsPersonal” on all of social media posts before each playoff game, obviously referring to the forfeits.
The two programs have played their share of memorable contests against each other, especially recently. The past seven games have been decided by six points or fewer, with Gray winning four of them.
Gray holds a 2-1 advantage in the playoffs, with Keenan’s lone win, 73-58, coming in the 2017 Class 2A Upper State finals.
Gray has been ranked No. 1 in Class 2A all season, and played its usual tough schedule with several out-of-state opponents.
Keenan enters the game with a 14-16 record, but has been playing its best basketball over the past month.
“They got a good team,” Norris said. “We got a couple things that we think we could do but it is up to the kids to execute and how bad do they want it. We need to probably play our best game of the season.”
SCHSL Playoff Schedule
Monday
Class 2A Boys
Keenan 55, Strom Thurmond 31
Gray Collegiate 31, Fox Creek 23
Tuesday
Class 5A Boys
Sumter at Lexington, 7 p.m.
Class 2A Girls
Silver Bluff at Gray Collegiate
Keenan at Landrum, 7 p.m.
Wednesday
Class 3A Boys
Crestwood at Lower Richland, 6:30 p.m.
Class 4A Girls
Ridge View at Bluffton, 6 p.m.
AC Flora at Wilson, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday
Class 4A Boys
Ridge View at Wilson, 7 p.m.
Westwood at James Island, 7 p.m.
Class A Boys
CA Johnson at North
Class 3A Girls
Camden at Lower Richland, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday
Upper State Championship
At Florence Center
Gray Collegiate vs. Keenam, 4 p.m.
SCISA Boys Playoff Schedule
Class 4A
Monday
Heathwood Hall 39, Porter-Gaud 35.
Hammond 58, Ben Lippen 55
H: Mike Tyler 16, Jaiden Haltiwanger 14, Mekhi Smith-Brown 13, D. Haltiwanger 9, Ross 7. BL: Buzz Buxton 14, Stephen Nichols 12, Braysen Stockman 11, M. Stockman 7, Sanders 6, Herd 5
Cardinal Newman 59, Trinity Collegiate 51 (OT)
Wednesday
Heathwood Hall vs. Augusta Christian at Sumter Civic Center, 6:30 p.m.
Hammond vs. Cardinal Newman at Sumter Civic Center, 8 p.m.
Class 3A
Tuesday
Northside Christian vs. Oakbrook Prep at Sumter Civic Center, 5 p.m.
SCISA Girls Playoff Schedule
Class 4A
Monday
Heathwood Hall 50, Porter-Gaud 21
Northwood Academy vs. Cardinal Newman at Wilson Hall, 3:30 p.m.
Hammond 62, Augusta Christian 44
Wednesday
Heathwood Hall vs. First Baptist/Trinity at Sumter Civic Center, 3:30 p.m.
Hammond vs. Cardinal Newman/Northwood at Sumter Civic Center, 5 p.m.
