Gray Collegiate defeat Calhoun County 70-54 to claim 4th straight region title.

THOMAS GRANT JR.
chroniclesports@yahoo.com
Posted 2/7/20

Since losing to Columbia on Jan. 10, top-ranked Gray Collegiate has gone relatively unchallenged during an 8-game winning streak.

Friday at Allen University, 10th ranked Calhoun County gave the …

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Gray Collegiate defeat Calhoun County 70-54 to claim 4th straight region title.

Posted

Since losing to Columbia on Jan. 10, top-ranked Gray Collegiate has gone relatively unchallenged during an 8-game winning streak.

Friday at Allen University, 10th ranked Calhoun County gave the defending 2-time Class 2A champions their toughest game in nearly a month. The Saints had an early lead and got a game-high 26 points from Russell Brunson Jr. 

Midway in the 2nd quarter, Gray Collegiate reasserted itself to take control of the game. A dominating 3rd quarter proved more than enough to hold off Calhoun County 70-54.

The 9th straight win also clinched a 4th consecutive Region 3-2A title for the War Eagles. Tauris Watson had 17 points to lead Gray Collegiate (19-6, 6-1). 

“Tonight, it looked like we fell back to sleep in the 1st half,” Gray Collegiate head coach Dion Bethea said. “But, our guys responded in the 2nd half, came out and kind of put it together from a defensive standpoint because we were giving up a lot of easy buckets. But that’s a credit to Calhoun County.” 

Calhoun County (17-6, 5-2) led 15-10 at the end of the 1st quarter. The Saints extended it to 7 points as Chris Mickell scored 8 of his 16 points in the 2nd quarter.

An 11-0 run sparked by Chris McDuffie pushed the War Eagles’ ahead 24-20. He scored 9 points in the 2nd quarter and finished with 15.

Calhoun County closed the gap to 30-27 at halftime. Gray Collegiate then opened the 2nd half with 15 unanswered points to push its lead to 45-30 with 3:39 left in the 3rd quarter.

Latavian Lawrence outscored the Saints in the 3rd quarter with 10 of his 12 points. Watson added 8 points as the War Eagles used their height advantage to outscore Calhoun County 28-6 and take a 58-33 lead into the 4th quarter.

“When you’ve got great assistant coaches that help you make adjustments, we made some adjustments defensively in the 2nd half,” Bethea said. “We had to make sure we dominated the rebounds and I think we did that.” 

The Saints outscored Gray Collegiate 21-12 in the 4th quarter. Brunson accounted for 14 points as Calhoun County closed the gap to within 11 points and snapped a streak of 5 games in which Gray Collegiate won by 30 or more points.

The War Eagles close out the regular season Tuesday at Eau Claire, while Calhoun County plays host to C.A. Johnson. 

“I still that think we haven’t seen our best basketball and I think the best is yet to come,” Bethea said. 

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Gray Collegiate 48, Calhoun County 30

Senior Truth Doctor scored 15 points and Aaliyah Lawrence added 13 as the Lady War Eagles (5-16, 3-4) improved their post-season hopes. 

Akirea Pabai scored 9 points and Shy’an Cokley added 8 for Calhoun County (7-11, 5-2). The loss dropped the Lady Saints into a 1st place tie with C.A. Johnson. 

The 2 teams will play for the Region 3-2A title on Tuesday in St. Matthews. 

Gray Collegiate, basketball, Bethea

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